Website design is the foundation of online presence, and should be the perfect reflection of your brand, ensuring your delivering a consistent message to your audience (Juno Media 2013). It is said that you have 10 seconds to make an impact and convey the right message as only 20% of people spend their time reading content on a website (Go-Gulf 2013). Therefore, it is infographics that are becoming a more important digital trend. Good website design will encourange visitors to stay on a website 3 times longer whilst 74% of online shoppers say that a great website influences their buying habits. (Juno Media 2013)
Factors that influence website design are USABILITY AND NAVIGATION
Navigation can make or break your website’s overall performance when it comes to retaining visitors, keeping them engaged. Website navigation can be simplified by creating a hierarchy of content supporting specific sections to improve navigation. Refinement of your navigation will increase SEO process of improving the quality and volume of web traffic.
VISUAL WEBSITES
2012 was all about content, 2013 is about context (Wierwille 2013).
Ebay is a clear example where visuals have allowed them to re-design their website allowing easier navigation for users. The home page is decluttered with the deletion of tiny thumbnails. It can be compared to a Pinterest-like feed, conducive to browsing and discovering.
For brands, a stronger visual presence means more engagement.
On Facebook, posts that include an album, photo or video increase engagement by 180%, 120% and 100%. A year ago, Pinterest accounted for less than 1% of social media e-commerce referrals. Now it accounts for 26%. (Weirwille 2013)
MOBILE DEVICE COMPATIBILITY
With the increasing popularity of tablet technology and smart phones, web designers must adapt to new standards. (Jaiswal 2013). Different screen resolutions makes it difficult to accomodate the whole site in small mobile screen. CSS3 compatibility allows coding to conform the user’s viewing medium. More people are purchasing smartphones than PC’s, therefore websites need to adapt to smaller screen monitors (Jaiswal 2013).
Digital Media & Communications 