Homepage Design Tips and Designing Don'ts
The nightmare of every business owner is having the website design finished and discovering it gives a bad user experience. Designers have the same fears, to tell the truth.
To prevent the need for starting over the design process, we recommend integrating proven web design practices from the outset.
Best practices for designing a homepage
Designing a website homepage starts with trying on your users’ shoes. Put your customers first to make their experience as easy and intuitive as possible. And mind the visuals, they’re crucial for creating a welcoming and engaging environment that keeps visitors coming back for more.
Here is our advice on how to design a website homepage, what are the most common pitfalls to watch out for, and finally, some great tips on website homepage design.
Consistent branding
Just think of McDonald's. What's the first thing that pops up in your mind? Probably those golden arches, right? They've been around forever, making McDonald's recognizable to people of all ages and backgrounds. "I'm lovin' it" jingle that has become an anthem of fast food, bright yellow and red colors, always giving off those happy vibes, consistent menu offerings, uniform store designs, and efficient service.
Throughout the years, the company has built a brand identity that's instantly recognizable and resonates with people from all walks of life. When they think McDonald's, they think familiar, affordable, and always there when they need a quick bite.
This is the level of cohesive branding that every business dreams to achieve - giving your users predictable and good experiences, regardless of the platforms and touchpoints they interact with.
Designing a website homepage should start with presenting a cohesive visual identity. At the end of the blog, we share homepage design tips you can use to achieve visual consistency.
User-generated content
User-generated content encompasses online content related to your brand but created by individuals outside your company. According to the Nielsen Global Survey, 43% of online shoppers are inclined to purchase products promoted through this form of advertising. Why? Because they see authentic images of real people using your product along with their impartial customer feedback.
While negative reviews may not be showcased, positive ones can greatly influence consumer decisions.
Leading cosmetics retailer, Sephora, gives the users an opportunity to learn about their products from the experience of real customers in an aesthetic and interactive design.
The UGC is generated from social media, as well as direct uploads from users, and what drives even more purchases, this content is shoppable! So Sephora online visitors can easily browse and buy these products. The gallery refreshes automatically as new UGC gets approved, encouraging users to share their impressions and driving even more conversions.
Responsiveness across devices
Responsive web design isn't merely a passing trend, it's an absolute necessity in today's digital landscape, yet it's often overlooked. Responsive design empowers your website to seamlessly adjust and optimize its display across various devices.
According to a study conducted by Google, nearly 90% of users switch between devices while browsing the web. Neglecting responsive design means risking isolating millions of people like mobile users who expect a smooth experience, regardless of the device they're using.
Ensuring your site looks fantastic across all screen sizes isn't just a recommendation, it's a crucial step in maximizing your reach and engagement in the digital realm.
Intuitive navigation
Clear, well-structured navigation is crucial for visitor interaction on your website. Headings organized into logical categories, often accompanied by dropdown menus, are essential for a seamless user experience. Upon landing on the main page, visitors should quickly discern where to find the desired category. To optimize your website's organization, consider the perspective of your visitors, aiming for solutions reachable within three clicks. Navigation elements and icons should be straightforward and easily recognizable. Implementing simple language in navigation labels, employing breadcrumbs for easy navigation backtracking, and customizing navigation based on content volume are effective strategies for enhancing user navigation experience.
Information hierarchy
One of the best practices for homepage design is an on-page content hierarchy.
On-page hierarchy means structuring website elements to lead visitors smoothly to the key information first. This ensures users can easily take action in a seamless and enjoyable manner. Make sure you utilize strategic placement, color schemes, and sizing to highlight crucial elements upfront.
The Netflix homepage is a great example of effective visual hierarchy: the headline immediately captures your focus, leading your gaze to the tempting offer and ultimately to the call to action.
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Lasting impression
While clear CTA, intuitive navigation, and visual consistency are crucial elements of a pleasant user experience, you must also seek for unconventional design choices. Adding creativity and originality to your website can serve as a potent strategy to differentiate yourself from competitors and speak out a unique brand identity.
You can explore asymmetrical layouts for a fresh perspective, integrate hover effects, and animated buttons, create unique graphic design elements, etc., anything that distinguishes your website in a crowded digital landscape.
Common mistakes to avoid in homepage design
Cluttered design and information overload
Edward Tufte once said, “There is no such thing as information overload, just bad design. If something is cluttered and/or confusing, fix your design”.
Cognitive overload is one of the most common mistakes in website homepage designing. Businesses want to express themselves, show their experience, promote, sell, entertain, etc., all at the same time, forgetting to give a breath of fresh air to their consumers.
Strike a good balance between what you say, how it looks, and how it works. Keep things neat, give your content loads some space to breathe, and use visual elements like images or videos to back up what you're saying but don’t overload your homepage with them. In other words, stick to a clean design.
When purchasing from eBay, the e-commerce website shows the product's name, price, condition, available quantity, and units sold, along with shipping, payment, and return details, are prominently displayed above the fold. Additionally, further description and extra shipping and payment information are accessible in a toggled section upon scrolling. Too much information to concentrate, isn’t it?
Unclear navigation paths
Is your website one of those where the navigation isn't simple? If so, that's a problem with your conversion rates. Easy-to-use navigation is crucial for enhancing user experience. Visitors shouldn't have to struggle to find what they're looking for; they expect straightforward categories and intuitive menus. Just like in a physical store, existing potential customers should be able to navigate your website with ease, finding their desired items in just a few clicks.
If they can't easily navigate your site, they'll likely leave and find another one that's more user-friendly. Just as with any shopping experience, customers want simplicity and convenience when browsing online. If they encounter obstacles or confusion, they're quick to move on to a competitor's site that offers a smoother experience.
Slow Loading
Over 40% of visitors will bounce from a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. The complexity of the page directly impacts loading times, emphasizing the need for swift performance. With Google's 2021 algorithm update prioritizing speed for SEO, website velocity has never been more critical.
Consumer expectations mirror this trend, with 53% abandoning sites that take longer than three seconds to load. Gone are the days of waiting patiently for loading screens. To ensure optimal speed and customer engagement it's crucial to enlist skilled developers who can effectively handle tasks like file compression, prefetching, CSS and JS optimization, and image and video optimization.
Bombarding users with popups
Flooding users with numerous popups is a guaranteed method to drive them away from your website, possibly for good. Whether it's urging users to share posts, subscribe to newsletters, or download free resources, an overload of popups can be off-putting and completely ruin the sales process.
To ensure a positive user experience, it's crucial to avoid overwhelming users with multiple popups and to keep the content of each popup concise and relevant. Instead of bombarding users with popups, focus on providing valuable content and engaging experiences that naturally encourage sharing and interaction.
Lack of clear call to action
If the call to action button can’t be spotted within the first three seconds, it has no use. A compelling CTA button is essential for achieving conversion goals. Visitors won't go back to your homepage just to convert, they want a prominent, eye-catching, and vibrant CTA button right in front of them.
Make your homepage design even more impressive
Designing a website homepage involves a simple and concise user experience. While it sounds pretty easy, executing these website homepage design tips can be trickier than expected. You may have fantastic design ideas, but unexpected challenges often arise during implementation. Therefore, it's crucial to have the right team in place to tackle common website homepage designing pitfalls and to meet user expectations.
As a digital product design agency, we understand that every project is unique, and every industry presents its own set of challenges. That's why we offer complimentary consultations with our experts to tailor design solutions to your specific needs.
Let's discuss how partnering with QU’ARTE product design agency can bring your vision to life and drive success for your business. Just fill in the form, and we’ll contact you.
The article was originally published at https://quarte.design/blog/designing-a-homepage-best-practices-and-mistakes-to-avoid