Tag Archive for: web design guide

Helpful Typography Tips

Close-up of Hand over White Background

Yes, it is important to create a website that appealing and compelling to your target audience, but the main purpose of typography in web design is to communicate effectively to your website visitors. The design you will choose for your website is a one-of-a-kind aspect of your brand.

In this article, you will learn tips to help improve the readability and appearance of your website and to communicate well to your readers. Read on the important tips below:

  1. LIMIT THE NUMBER OF FONTS

    While style is an important factor in designing, and while it is very tempting to use as much styles as you can, it to use multiple fonts. Sticking to one or two is enough Two is already a lot! The aim here is to make the website clean and to retain a certain structure. Remember that LESS IS ALWAYS MORE.

  2. CHOOSE STANDARD AND SIMPLER FONTS

    Choosing standard fonts guarantees better readability. Readers used to seeing system fonts such as Arial, Garamond, Calibri, Verdana etc. Not unless if your website requires a specific typeface, it is best to stick with fonts that people will easily identify.

  3. REDUCE YOUR LINE LENGTH

    The key to a perfect website is readability and legibility. Your line length shouldn’t be too narrow, nor too wide, it just has to be the right length. The suggested length by The Baymard Institute is approximately 60 characters each line

  4. CHOOSE A TYPEFACE THAT’S READABLE DESPITE THE SIZE

    Your website viewers will use different gadgets so there’s isn’t a single uniform resolution or screen sizes. Just make sure that you would apply a typeface that will work well on a tiny screen or a huge desktop.

  5. CHOOSE A TYPEFACE THAT MAKE EVERY LETTER DISTINCT

    To be more specific, the chosen typeface should be distinct. The ‘i’ should not be mistaken for the “l” and vice versa. It happens in a LOT of typefaces so avoid confusing ones. Convenience of your readers should be your priority.

  6. AVOID USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

    Capitalizing letters should only be used to emphasize a point! You should NOT capitalize the whole blog post or web page.

  7. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH SPACE BETWEEN LINES

    This refers to a typography term called leading. If you increase the lead, you are increasing or widening the white space in between lines of the text. By doing so, you are also increasing the readability of the text. Don’t decrease the leading because that would be very hard to read.

  8. MAKE SURE YOUR COLOR CONTRAST IS SPOT ON

    Colors also play a vital role in typography or in web design. The most important thing is to consider the readability of your text. It is pretty much USELESS to use the same font color and the same background color. The W3C recommends that small text should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background. Large text should have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 against its background.

  9. AVOID TEXTS IN RED OR GREEN

    Color blindness is a common among men (8% of men are color blind!)

    It is recommended to use other color shades and avoid using red or green because these are the common colors that affect those that are color blind.

  10. DO NOT USE BLINKING TEXTS

    Flashing or blinking texts may cause seizures to some people, while others find it annoying and distracting. It is best to avoid anything that blinks!

6 Web Design Facts That May Surprise You

apple, business, computer

Web design is more than the aesthetic appearance of a website. One must look beyond the surface and consider different factors such as web browsers interpret code differently, images and videos affect a website’s loading time, a certain code may affect the user experience.

Here are some web design facts that you may not know:

  • Different web browsers will render websites differently.

    • Websites are shown differently because of such factors like parsing and rendering. It means that  different web browsers translate codes diversely. A display on this web browser will be different from this other web browser. They will NEVER have the same result as different web browsers are distinctly programmed.
    • Just because one website runs smoothly in Google Chrome, it does not automatically mean that it will run well in Safari, Opera, or others. It is best to do a browser compatibility test to ensure that your website will render well on all major web browsers.
  • Templates are a huge NO.

    • You should say no to templates as much as possible because it limits you from modifying certain elements to your liking. Yes, templates may be the easier option for someone who is not familiar with coding, but depending too much on templates will affect your website’s performance and will make your website seem unreliable.
  • Codes are extremely important.

    • Without specific codes, your website will not be visible in various search engines. Once someone searches using certain keywords that applies to your website, without proper coding, your website will not appear as one of the search results.
    • Hire a team of web designers that would ensure your website will show up once someone types words from your domain name to meta tags, headers, and descriptions.
  • Web design guides visitors where to look.

    • A colorful design may attract web visitors, but a clear design is preferred. If a design is cluttered, visitors will abandon the page and just find another website instead. According to a report, successful websites are websites that are convenient to use. Website visitors can easily find important information quickly.
  • Images and videos are helpful, but…

    • Yes, images and videos add color to websites. When not properly used, they  improperly, they can also undoubtedly affect your website’s performance. Large multimedia files will take time to load. We all know that website visitors don’t like to wait too long. They might grow impatient and move to another website.
    • To ensure that your images and videos will load faster, web designers should web-optimized images and videos. Also, stay away from obselete formats like Flash. Most web browsers nowadays do not support this format.
  • Updates are neccessary.

    • A 2-year-old website may be too old. Web browsers are evolving fast and updates are released frequently. You should do the same for your website. Keep up with technology by developing and designing newer website.
    • An old website may not run properly on an updated web browser because of obselete codes and browser incompatibility. Aside from that, the search engine algorithms are not updated. So, most probably, your website will not be one of the top search engine results.

Questions to Ask Before Building Website

Website, Analysis, Scan, Search, Digital

Nowadays, creating a website is as easy as 1-2-3! There many people who can design websites and even a teenager could. Numerous website builders provide you countless of options. But before you jump in and create one for yourself, ask yourself these important questions.

  • What is the website for?

    It is crucial to identify the purpose. You will be able to save time because you already know where your business is going.  In the online world of businesses, there are three main classifications of your site:

    • A Brochure Website –  This type goes well if you have utilize offline marketing too. You will mention your website, along with your social media links, in your offline ads. More details about the products and services are reflected on your website.
    • A Lead Generator Website – This is an upgrade from just having a brochure website. You will want people to locate your website while they browsing and once they have seen your website, they will most likely contact you. After an inquiry, most likely a sale will follow.
    • A Website That Serves As A Shop – The third type will allow people to easily buy from your website. They will not need to go to your actual store.  They can avail the products and services with just a few clicks. Once people see your wide collection of products for sale, they will most likely click that Buy Now button.
  • How will the world find your website?

    It’s like a needing in a haystack. Just having a website is not enough because let’s face it: THERE ARE MILLIONS OF WEBSITES AND NEW ONES ARE ADDED EVERY SINGLE DAY. How will you stand out from the rest? You really need to strategize on how you can make your online presence felt.

  • Visibility is important online. You need to know the basics of online advertising and SEO. You can also collaborate with other online brands. Social media is a good online marketing tool too!
  • Support your website by including some offline strategies. Networking and public relations makes a  difference too. Share your website to friends and people close to you.
  • How do you make website visitors stay?

    According to a study, a person’s average time in a website is only 68 seconds. How many of your call-to-action buttons will actually generate sales?

    One sure way to let them stay is content. You should be able to find ways to provide quality content. You need to give the people what they want. Inform and educate your website visitors. Once they know that they will learn something from your website, be it an instructional video or an infographic, they will surely stay.

  • What will the website visitors do?

    Of course, you would want people to buy a lot products from your website. A first time website visitor will surely not click that BUY button immediately because they don’t know your website. So, a relationship should built first. They will maybe inquire about a product first. Be sure to be able to answer them right away.

    You could also offer free downloads in exchange of their email address. That way when you something new to offer, you can share it all to your email subscribers.

  • How to maintain website visitors?

    According to a research, 4 out of 5 web visitors will never visit the same site again. So, how do you sustain web visits? To convince people to come back, you need to:

     

    1. Having numerous high quality content. It’s not more of the numbers, but kind of content.
    2. Frequently add new things to your website. Little changes will do.
    3. Give free stuffs or discount coupons to your email subscribers. That will surely convince them to visit again.

  • How are to monitor your website?

    Measure your statistics and know what works best for your website. You should know the number of website visitors, the exact time they viewed your website, how they found your website, and etc. Basing from these stats given, you can generate an online marketing campaign that fits your site.