We always see web design tips all over the internet. We’ve written about them at some point on this site. Everyone has a different opinion about what a great sample website design should be because it can be quite subjective. But given that website design influences the success of a website and, by extension, a brand’s digital marketing strategy, the goal is to build a website that will engage your target audience.
Having said that, we’ve put together a few effective design elements, backed by science along with sample websites made using the Strikingly site builder to inspire your next project. For more sample website templates, you can also check out our Discover page.
Do not overwhelm your audience with too many options
Imagine you’re in a grocery store and you’re supposed to pick up cereal. You find yourself in a really long aisle of a variety of cereal brands and types. The sheer number of options is overwhelming and it’s hard to pick out just one. According to Hick’s Law, the more options an individual gets, the harder it is for him to arrive at a decision. Translating this to one of our sample websites, limiting the choice on a website may help boost conversions. Look at the following web designing samples below.
Notice that the sample website design contains just a few menu items. Instead of cramming tons of information on the site, the website owner focused on the essentials of the event that users might want to know about: general information about the event, band line-up and a call to action to book tickets. It’s difficult to get confused by a site that is so straightforward. The site is meant to get visitors to reserve their tickets to the event and that’s basically it. No other distracting instruction.
If you look at other great website samples, you’ll find that most of them focus on a few important goals for their websites. Try not to overwhelm your audience with too many things that you want them to do on your website. Use shorter forms, one call to action per webpage and have one goal per page only.
Keep it simple
A study by Google found that visual complexity is not appealing to web users. You don’t want to make your website look too complicated. Users shouldn’t have to wonder how to get around your site so don’t get too fancy on the design and keep things simple and straightforward. Great sample sites implement standard layouts and more familiar navigation.
When you’re a web designer like Ashmith, it’s very tempting to add a lot of fancy design elements to your online portfolio to impress visitors. Ashmith kept his site simple and informative. You don’t need a lot of flash to impress your target market. This is a good web site sample of how you can use a lot of white space and go to a simple one column layout can still be effective in attracting an audience.
Less clicks as possible
Another study shows that people don’t really mind scrolling but if they have to click too much to get all the information they need, they tend to get turned off. Don’t be afraid of your websites samples going way too long because users are more used to scrolling through pages nowadays because social media sites are built the same way - more scrolling, less clicking.
One tip for keeping users engaged when your website is too long: use strong visuals. 2024 is a website dedicated to outlining future advertising and marketing trends. It presents the information in a very interesting way, using lots of graphics and transitions between sections. This sample site is definitely something you should look at for inspiration on how to craft longer pages.
