In this day and age, there are few things more important than a good website. Whether you have a business, do freelance work, or are just trying to put your content out there, a good website is absolutely essential. But what constitutes a “good” website? What is it about some sites that look and feel better than others? We’ve all seen websites that have some decent content, but for one reason or another, they’re unbearable. Government websites are even worse. Fortunately there are some basic principles that govern how we interact with websites and how we feel about its utility. They may seem complex at first, but they’re rooted in some basic psychology and wonderful design.
Here, we’ll explore what a high-quality website really means, as well as what you can do to apply that to your own online presence.
Intuitive Design
Intuitive design is the basis for what makes a good website flow well. Have you ever been to a website and you just knew what to do? That’s intuitive design. We asked a top web design agency in Hong Kong how this is even possible. Apparently it’s based on a theory proposed by usability engineer Steve Krug. He postulated that the simpler the experience is for the user, the better. Whittling that concept down to a usable standard involves making the user’s eyes naturally gravitate towards what the next interactive step is.
This can be done through colors, size manipulation, font, etc. If you’re on a blog, you’ll notice that the first thing you see is the top categories. This is done on purpose. Making your website highly usable adds to its overall quality.
Concise Content
Content is one of those big buzzwords that often gets misconstrued. Because Instagram models and slapstick YouTube kids have co-opted the word, the simple criteria for “good” content is somewhat muddied. Good content is relative to what your audience wants. If you’re a comedian, your audience is probably going to expect to laugh. If you’ve got a blog about being an internal controller of a Q tip factory, you might want to include some finance policy in there. It’s all up to what your audience wants to read and watch.
Mobile Strategy
Your user experience must be compatible with mobile. You’ve got to set up a mobile strategy from the jump. Mobile is king. That is how the majority of the world consumes content and visits websites. More people browse while on the train going to work than any other place (aside from maybe at work). If you have a good design team, or you yourself have a good design strategy, you should be able to anticipate and tackle the pitfalls of having to make a mobile-compatible website. There’s nothing worse than a subscribe button being on the top right corner and your mobile design somehow cutting it off.
With the people out today providing their skills in user experience and design, there’s no reason not to have a high-quality website. If you’re serious about taking your business, blog, or any presence online to the next level, consider working with professionals that can truly turn you website into a masterpiece.
