On our WordPress Design page, we’ve included an illustrated infographic that provides a look into some of the elements that we employ to create high-converting WordPress websites. In this blog post, we’ll be covering 7 of them in poignant detail, so strap on your seat belt and enjoy…
Wireframe – A Web wireframe is a simple visual guide to show you what a Web site will look like. It suggests the structure of a page, without using any graphics or text. A website wireframe would show the entire site structure – including what pages link to where.
As design is a path-driven process, web wireframes are a great way to begin conceptualizing the path that your design will take. New insights will occur on the path to implementation and the wireframe will provide a flexible means of formulating the website’s structure. And while it’s possible to create complex wireframes with huge amounts of detail, your planning can start with a napkin and a pen. With a wireframe, you would leave out all visual elements. Use boxes and lines to represent pictures and text.
Credibility indicators – the word “credibility” speaks for itself. These are the elements that make your website more credible and trustworthy for your customers. Some credibility indicators are testimonials, product review, professional design, and etc.
A visitor to a website typically has a very short attention span – so we use a selective piece of information, such as credibility, as representative of the whole. These factors present the credibility of your business in the best way possible through your website.
Besides the obvious use of testimonials and product reviews, you should also be able to portray credibility through your design. There are many ways to accomplish this; for example, using muted de-satured color hues gives off a gentrified, elegant look. Ample negative space is another way of presenting credibility – think of an editorial and the wide margins between columns of text. Separating your content into two or three columns, like a news editorial, is another great way of projecting credibility, authenticity, and authority.
Contrast – in design contrast can be defined as an accentuation of the differences between elements in a design. Most people think of contrast only as it applies to colors, but contrast can work with any design element. For example, if you have a group of shapes that are all the same size, there is no contrast – that is the design principle of repetition, perhaps. But if one large shape sits next to another, it can create a contrast based upon the design fundamental of gestalt.
The underlying philosophy when using contrast in design is to place greater emphasis on certain visual elements, in order to make them stand out. A great example of this would be creating a call to action and using contrast in order to make it stand out on your page and be the first element that your site’s visitor sees.
Most Wanted Response – The Most Wanted Response is that action that you most want people to take when they are on any specific web page. Do you want them to make a purchase, click a link, subscribe to an email list or to click on an ad?
Whatever it is, you need to plan your design around what your “Most Wanted Response.” Steve Krug wrote an excellent book on web design called Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, and in it he makes it clear that the action or desired response from visitors should be immediate, apparent, and obvious.
Determine what your “Most Wanted Response” is before designing your site.
Negative space – also known as whitespace, can be loosely defined as the area of a page not occupied by content. More appropriately, it is the space between specific items on the page. Negative space does not have to be white, or even solid in color. It can contain gradients, patterns or background objects.
Negative space is so important because it gives the content on your page the space and respect that it deserves! When you crowd your website (or flyer, or advertisement, or anything) with too many visual elements then it appeals to no one!
Think of a lifeboat – it may hold 11 or 12 people, but if you tried to stuff 20, 30, or even 40 people into the boat it would start to sink! The same occurs to design. Be careful in terms of how much content you add, and eliminate content that isn’t important. Don’t let the insignificant bring down the important message – mainly, your “most wanted response” and call to action.
Eye Gravity / Reading Gravity – this principle states that the eye naturally scans across the page from left to the right, and back to where it started-at the Axis of Orientation. Then the eye drops down to the next line. This movement is reading gravity. When a design element prevents the eye from following this pattern, it interrupts the flow of reading and comprehension plummets. Make the content of your WordPress website easy to read!
User Experience – encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. The first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother.
Next comes simplicity and elegance that presents products that are a joy to purchase, a joy to use, a joy to experience. True user experience goes far beyond giving customers what they say they want, or providing checklist features. In order to achieve high-quality user experience in a company’s offerings there must be a seamless merging of the services of multiple disciplines, including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design, and interface design.
It also includes employing ongoing market research in order to actively get feedback from your users!
