In many instances, you’ll find that the people who design websites are focused only on how it looks, and web developers are only focused on what the design does. However, to have a full and satisfying experience, users who log on to your website really have to be happy with both of those elements simultaneously, and they also need to feel like the content matches with the presentation as well.
So, if you’re struggling with that equation at all as a developer, consider the following five tips, including making the medium the message, using tone and theme wisely, promoting responsive designs, borrowing technique from similar sites, and getting rid of sloppy coding that can slow the whole process down.
Make the Medium the Message
So one thing that great websites do is make the medium convent the message. In other words, for example, a website featuring information about investments will have very clean, simple, understandable lines. And a website about heavy metal music is going to have dark, jagged, very dense design elements. So the presentation is doing as much to convey the message as the design, content, and functionality are doing.
Use Tone and Theme Wisely
And along with the theme of appropriate medium via web browsing, make sure that tone and theme are also consistent. This means things like word choice, titling, basic color organization, and all of those other supporting website elements that really bring the overall concept together as a whole. It may seem like a lot of extra work getting these details in order, but all other things being equal, it is that extra work that will get you extra attention, clients, and eventually money.
Promote Responsive Designs
In the last several years, website design and development concepts have changed rather drastically become of the mobile explosion. In order for your web design and functionality to match up with this, it’s more important than ever to work with responsive web designs and design elements. You never know what format people are going to see your site via initially, so you don’t want to lose them at that early stage.
Borrow Techniques from Similar Sites
And there’s nothing wrong with borrowing design and development techniques from other websites either. As long as you don’t steal elements or content, you should be fine in your efforts to clean up your own edges.
Get Rid of Sloppy Coding
And finally, sloppy coding is the detriment of many a great website. Inefficient coding practices or leftover code in files can slow down the browsing experience, and even break the browsing experience in different types of environments! Be sure that design elements and functional code are used responsibly to keep the whole experience as tight as possible for users.