Use your layout to optimize your web design

When you visit a website, the way the layout has been designed can often have more of an impact on the way you perceive their site than you realise. Typically, when a surfer visits a site, their decision to continue with the desired action can all happen in the first 7 seconds. So it’s important to get your information across fast.

It is possible to create an appealing website and still capture the attention of all your visitors. You just need to follow a few simple rules:

• Ensure you contain a summary of what the purpose of the site is. By including a concise description of your company near the opening of your page, this will give your readers the information they need to continue reading and feel reassured in your product


• Keep products and services displayed prominently on the page as this allows new and returning customers to visualise what they will be getting.


• To balance the appeal of your page for new and returning customers, include a sentence or two on the product with clearly defined links to other pages with more information on. For example ‘About you’ and ‘Company Information’.


• Include news, press releases and event announcements. This will give your company credibility, and allow your visitors to research further into your company.

Your graphic designs and web imagery should get your readers in the right mood for your page. In the web design world there are certain taboos you should steer clear of when constructing a webpage.

Black background with light, white or pale text: using this style can make your website look pretentious and is very difficult to do well even by the most talented designers. Another problem created by this design is that some browsers like to try and print this background, wasting ink.

Black with dark text: readers will not be able to read the text unless they highlight it

Tiled background images that are too busy: these types of web designs are currently very popular with new web designers, but these images will add to the download time of your site and add no real value to the customer’s perspective. The one exception to this rule is wide tiles that are larger than your screen as they can create a left side gutter on the screen.

Everything centred: this can make the page really hard to read and can often be perceived as very boring to look at
Too many headlines, over emphasis on themes and bold/italics words: every line should not look like a headline as this will confuse your readers on what to read first.

Blinking text: was originally the perfect way to say all you needed to say to your customer. Through over use on many new sites, this design has lost its appeal to surfers and is nearly always impossible to read.

List of links: this only becomes a problem when every line is a link. If you do want to list URL links, add a paragraph to each to explain why they are worth viewing.

Too many images: this relates to the overuse of icons at the bottom of your webpage. If you have more than 2 icons, there are too many on your site

Sound: everyone has different music tastes, so if a reader hears a song that annoys them, they may leave especially if your website does not have the resources to let them switch it off.

By following these simple rules, you can achieve your ultimate goal of winning the attention of your customer. The right use of graphic design, imagery and layout, can make a real difference to the success of your site, simply by tying in all your themes into a coherent structure.

This article is really aimed at the basic web design level for those who do not yet have the experience to spot mistakes in design layout before they make them. If you need help with designing and marketing a site why not contact the Soula digital design agency.