Unless you live under a rock, you have probably used a Mac computer before. Think about how easy they are to move through and find what you want. Probably why they are so popular, right? So why not emulate that? Take a look at your webpage. Does it look like it was made in the 90s when all you could do was blocks of color and paragraphs of text? Or is it on the other side of the spectrum, filled with sparkly letters, flash animation, music, buttons, slideshows, videos, tweets, vines, hashtags, trendings, live feeds, live chat, more hashtags, selfies, pop-ups, and so on? Now is the time to change your design. Here are 6 Tips to Making Your Webpage More User-Friendly:
Attention to Detail
Details matter. Steve Jobs once spent two days trying to decide how round a corner should be on the original Macintosh. I’m not saying you need to stare at you computer for two days trying to decide if a margin should be 15-pixels or 17-pixels, but pay close attention to where buttons are placed and where your eyes are drawn to.
Colors Matters
Before a viewer even reads a single word on your webpage, they see color. Some colors look elegant, like blacks, whites, and grays. While others are more playful like bright greens, yellows, and blues. Find a balance of color and contrast that fits your company’s look and goal. If you are designing a webpage for a lawyer, that rainbow font coloring and hot pink background may not be the best fit. Study the psychology of color to help you gain more perspective on color use and where to use it.
Guide the User
Webpages need to be simple. Potential customers will quickly leave a page if they can’t figure out the next step or where to click. Nobody wants to spend time searching around trying to find the right button. Make your design fluid to allow the viewer to easily move through the webpages.
Push the Boundaries
Design is an art and like any form of art, the boundaries need to be pushed every now and again. Now, this doesn’t mean you turn your web design into some abstract art piece that represents all the angst you hold inside your darkened soul. Instead, bend the rules every so often. Rules are meant to be broken, so let out the inner rebel in you and use a CRAZY font because you can (and it works with the project)!
Simplify
Empty the clutter, minimalize the junk, and delete the unnecessary. Don’t make your webpage a minefield of CTAs and grumpy cat photos. Unnecessary paragraphs, images, and buttons are like those ironic, ugly sweaters you wore in college. You don’t want to get rid of them because of all the great times you had while wearing them, but now they just sit and collect dust. Hit the delete button! You will still have the memories, just not the hideous part to go with them.
Be Responsive
Designing for the user should be the number one priority when building a webpage. Drop the flash and keep it simple. You don’t want viewers to be overwhelmed with information and animations and music. You want them to see who you are, what you do, and how you can solve their problem.This year is supposed to be the first time in history that mobile searches surpass desktop Internet searches. That means that the majority of people are going to be browsing your webpage on a mobile device, like a tablet or a phone, or, who knows, maybe even a smart watch. Your webpage needs to be responsive to all devices to make it easy for people to follow from where ever they are searching.
Now that you have a beautiful, user-friendly website, check out Responsive Inbound Marketing's 30 Tips for Lead Generation!
