10 Tips for Designing an Effective Website

What separates a great website from a good one, is the way in which all the elements of a website viz content, visuals, organization and navigation work in harmony to create an unforgettable user experience. The site should flow naturally for the user to access key information and reach an objective efficiently and effectively
Here are 10 tips on how to design a website and make it SEO friendly

1) Identify the target user group and expectations. Ask yourself questions like:

• Why do you want to create a website
• Who is your target population
• How will you ensure your target audience visits and refers your site to others

One way of gaining deep insight is to conduct user testing as very often what we assume to be important might actually not rank very high in importance for users.

2) Choose a domain name for your website that is relevant to the nature of your business, your own name or a descriptive word that identifies the type of content found on your site. This also helps your site rank high.

3) Check out websites related to your topic or industry, and determine which features you like. This will also give you an idea of what visitors typically expect from a site in your specific category.

4) Design the information architecture of the site. Like a tree with many branches and sub branches, websites are also usually organized around a single homepage, which then links to subpages. This kind of hierarchical structure focuses on the organization and structure of content in a manner in which a user can navigate through it intuitively. The simple rule is not to make the users think, wait or search for information. Its best to follow conventions that the user is used to.

5) Define the sections or groupings of content through which ultimately the subsections and sub pages of the website will be built. Here are some best practices to keep in mind while building the site’s navigational structure

• The head sections of your site closer to the homepage should be broader in context designed with the objective of drawing visitors in
• The head sections should correspond with your primary offer, product / service
• Conduct keyword research to discover latest trends for naming sections, as also to ensure search engine optimization.
• Ensure that there is no content overlap from section to section

6) Practice good user interface design:

• Place the various elements in the website such as title, sidebars, logos, graphics and text in the same place on every page to make your site navigable.
• Keep the same header at the top of every page
• Use logic in your design: The elements on a single plate should be arranged logically by importance or by topic, the same logic should run through all the pages on the site
• Incorporate mobile/ responsive design.

7) Create a consistent style

• Use 2-3 main colours and harmonize them with each other
• Do not use too many font styles or sizes, also they should be used in the same manner on every page
• Use CSS as it is easier to affect changes to the entire site rather than going through individual pages

8) Maximize readability

• Use subheadings and appropriate spacing to separate each of the sections
• Use bold or different sized fonts to show the importance/ hierarchy of topics
• Do text handling like ensuring font size is not too small or too spaced out. Break large groups of text into smaller paragraphs to make it easier to read

9) Test your website

• Make sure that every link works as you expect and that images appear correctly
• Consider conducting usability tests by having members of your target audience test the site for clarity and ease of use and provide feedback

10) Optimize use of media and Images for achieving faster loading time and hence better search engine visibility. Place your images in the context of the page. Add relevant non-textual media to the text content as this makes the site more resourceful

Lastly nothing can replace an original, so think long and hard about what makes your website unique, valuable, or engaging. This will help you define features which will make your website stand out from others in your field.