Thursday, November 14, 2013

5 Rules of Web Design

Being in web design is cool and fun; you get to be creative and often help people out. You can create websites for yourself or for other people, either way, you're actually helping people. However, did you know there are unwritten rules for web design? Yup! I mean, you won't get prosecuted if you violate these rules but you can (and probably will) end up with a bad website.


  1. The first rule is be clear in your writing. When someone visits your website, you have mere seconds to get their attention and keep them on your site. Use clear, concrete language. Put your something on the landing page, or homepage, that will get visitors to realize that your site is worth staying on. As for deeper pages, you want your writing to be clear so they understand what each page is about and they don't just move on after a second of struggling to read your page. 
  2. The second rule is be easy. Make your website easy to navigate; you want it to be easy to navigate for two reasons: 1) search engines like sites that are easy to find your way around so they can rank them better. 2) People like sites they can find their way around so they get to see the whole thing and know they aren't wasting their time. Think about it, when you find a site that is confusing and you get lost in, you don't think, "This is a great site!" You most likely think, "Well, I'm out of here. Stupid website." Don't be a stupid website. 
  3. The third rule is optimize your site. If you do not optimize your site, then your site will not rank well and doing any search engine optimization or other internet marketing will be worthless. This means having good title & H1 tags, using keywords in your text, having image tags, etc. 
  4. Be real is the fourth rule. Ditch the "impressive" language and jargon as well as the cheesy, cliché, "clearly it is not real"stock photos. If you have to use stock photos, fine, but use ones that are believable. 
  5. The fifth rule is be mobile. Having a website that is not mobile-friendly is like having a car with three tires; yeah, you have the car but people will only ride in it if it's life or death. If you don't have a mobile-friendly site, you have a website but people will only look at it on a mobile device when there's absolutely no other way to view it. Why is this a problem? Well, because smartphones and tablets are getting somewhat popular these days and apparently people like going on the internet with them. Have a mobile-friendly version of your website even if you have  an app as well. 
Like we said, web design can be really fun and helpful. In today's society, every business needs a website; if your company needs a website, then contact Integraphix - a Chicago web design company who can give you  a great site. If you have a site that needs to be optimized or search engine optimization, then you can again contact Integraphix