Great web design is the foundation that helps establish your website on the Internet. You can see it as a personal ID of your business, and the first impression it makes on a potential customer is of the utmost importance. A website relies on good web design to keep functioning properly.
Graphic design drives advertising and customers to brands. It’s present everywhere, giving companies visual identity, helping them look professional and create a strong identity. To make sure that your blog attracts visitors and that they remember you, good graphic design is vital. To learn more about how proper graphic design works, keep reading.
1. Make it functional first
Your blog may be pretty, but if it’s hard to browse, your visitors will leave it quickly and most of them won’t come back. A website’s job is to be the best tour guide – it welcomes your visitors and presents your blog to them, showing them around and pointing them to things they should see before leaving. A good website directs visitors to where they want to go, as well as where you want them to go. We’re not saying that you shouldn’t make your blog pretty, you definitely should, but great user experience has to be your top priority. The importance of responsive and mobile-friendly design can’t be stressed enough, responsive sites require less maintenance, while most people heavily rely on mobile devices and tend to leave slow and unresponsive response sites pretty quickly.
2. No need for being the most unique
As there are over billion websites on the Internet, you need to look different from the rest and stand out. However, there’s no need to take to overdo it because you might put off your visitors. There are certain usability rules and conventions that web designers should follow in order to create a site that can be navigated easily and quickly. For example, an email opt-in and RSS are always located at the top right of a website, navigation bars are below header areas, while logos are usually in the top left corner. If you change this, you may confuse your visitors. Also, make sure to focus on your content and check some tips on how to become a better blogger.
3. It’s about psychology as much as Photoshop
Having compelling content and pretty design is good, but the real secret is in consumer behavior and psychology. For instance, a good graphic designer should know color psychology and the associations people make with certain tones and shades. They need to know what imagery will appeal to a specific target audience and what’s going on in their minds when they visit websites.
Are concentric circles better than a smooth curve? What will drive visitors to the left or to the right, or is deep red a better choice than IBM blue? Should your design be soft and comforting or bold and colorful? What emotional state should your website create? Knowing what makes people take action, how they behave, and ways they react to particular elements can help you incorporate compelling and effective strategies into a website.
4. Making a stellar first impression
Even though it might not be the first page a visitor sees when they get to your website, the homepage is the most important page on any website. Crucial for making the first impression online, your homepage design is what your overall website will be judged by, regardless of how a visitor navigates it. Your homepage is the digital face of your company, the gate through which people are meant to enter your site, and the center of your design efforts. If your website visitors don’t like your site, it can damage your reputation and lower your chances of attracting more visitors. Thus, make sure your homepage features great graphic design.
This should make it clear just how much good graphic design can help your blog attract more people. It seems that simplicity, functionality, and responsiveness are cornerstones of any web design strategy. If your website is not responsive, then no matter how much you’ve invested in a top-notch visual design, the site will neither be able to retain visitors nor make them come back. Find your target audience, study their behavior, find out what they like, and design your blog according to those guidelines.
