When it comes to website design there are many website elements that are utilised to create your online presence.
These website elements are used to aid user experience and SEO or search engine optimisation. Elements include the header which usually contains the logo and main navigation, the content area, and the footer area. It is very important that you provide your customers with the ability to get in contact with you.
Some important website elements include the following;
CMS
The Content Management System or CMS for short, is the framework used to create your website and deliver it to your end users. Many CMS’s exist today such as WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. CMS’s allow website owners to log into the admin area of their website so they can update sections of their website such as website pages or blog posts. The CMS has an editor like Microsoft Word that allows them to make changes without the need to know how to code, the editor or WYSIWYG creates the code for the pages. Although not perfect, these editors allow website owners to keep there website fresh and up to date without requiring knowledge in HTML.
Responsive Design
Responsive design or responsive templates allow your website to resize and reshape according to the device that is viewing it, this optimises the viewing window for the end user and allows for a much better browsing experience.
Front page
This is one of the most important pages within your website, you need to relay to your end users who you are and what it is you do as quickly and easily as possible.
Put key information above the fold, this is usually what your users will see before they scroll. Tell your users clearly what it is that you do, plus who you are ( the who you are information is often within the header area of your website ). Put on the page what services/products you sell if any, have informative good looking images, provide an offer to your users if possible and a reason to contact you. Many other elements can also go on the front page like blogs, latest news, the team, location, maps, about your business plus much more but have this down the page and ensure you have plenty of space so your users can view your website clearly. Don’t assume that all your users will see your front page as search engines often direct your users to the most relevant pages within your website.
Call to action or CTA
This is a section on your website page like a banner or highlighted area that draws the users attention. This is intended to relay important information or a message such as an offer to the end user.
Menus or navigation
Website menus are used within your website to help the website user in getting around your website pages.
Dont assume that a search engines will send your users to your front page every time, you must provide users with the ability to navigate around your website easily so they can get to the areas they need to.
Many menus can reside within a website such as the main menu ( usually up the top ), the side menus to help with navigation and footer menus to sometimes relay secondary information or links to users if they scroll down to the bottom of their website.
Logo/branding
Logos are an important website element to have on your website pages. Logos allow the end user to easily view who you are.
Website logos are usually positioned up the top left corner of a website or placed within the middle section in the top of the browser and should be on all main pages.
Banners
Website banners are used to advertise products/services within your website pages. They are meant to draw the attention of the end user so as to portray a message.
Large banners are also widely used on front pages of websites to showcase products, services, what a business does, who they are and offers.
Content
This is arguably the most important website element within your website.
Website content relays to your customers and website users information such as your products, services, who you are, how to find you/contact you and general information. The job of search engines such as Google is to provide the web users with relevant information about a topic they are searching for. This is why content is very important and why search engines rank content very high. Your content must be relevant to the user and provide them with what they are looking for in order for the search engine to continue to send the users to your website.
Animation
Animation such are word transitions, element movements and banners are widely used on the web today. Be careful not to take away from the content when implementing animation on your pages, the content is far more important than transitions. Animation software such as Flash are not as widely used today due to vulnerabilities and end user experience, plus some browsers just don’t support flash any more so we advise website owners to minimise the use of Flash on their website.
Social Media
Social media is an important element to have within your website today. This allows your users to interact with you use their favourite socail media outlet. Many website have links within their website to their socail media pages to provide website users with the ability to interact with them. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus and snapchat are some of the most popular socail media systems used today.
Contact Information
Your contact information is important to have on your website. Setting up a contact page with your phone, address email and other contact important elements allow users to get in touch with you. Putting maps on a page also allows for user interaction and provides the website user to see where you are physically on a map.
Forms
Website forms allow you to gather information from your website users. Forms are used for many purposes such as contact forms, quoting forms, newsletters, bookings and events.
Online Shop – E Commerce
Having a shop within your website allows your customers to browse what you sell at their leisure. As online shop also provides search engines with the information they need to tell the world what it is your selling. Users often browse the web for products read product/service reviews before purchase. If your products or services are not online it will be much harder for users to find what you sell, having an outlet online to sell your products is important today as many users purchase online due to convenience.
About you
Writing a section or page about your business is very important.
It tells users about what it is you do, how long you have been doing it for, areas you service and who makes up your business, what you specialise in and how you deliver customers with what they want. Website elements such as phone number is integral, making these number click-able for mobiles devices is optimal.
Site Search
A site search allows users to search for content within your website easily. If you have a large website with a lot of content a search facility is a must.
Offers
Give your users a reason to get a hold of you. Better conversion rates can occur if you have an offer on your website like a special, free service, free quote or consultation.
Website Hosting
Although technically not part of the website itself, this is a required element for your website to be displayed for your users.
Your website should be seen as an asset and it is something that should evolve with your business. It allows you to communicate with your users and let them know who you are and what it is that you do.
Contact us today to find out how we can setup your online presence with website elements that assist your website users experience.
