You might have the best content to post online, yet if the layout of your website is poor, unattractive and is not user-friendly then the visitors might not return to it. The color combinations, position of the content, position of ads etc are some of the factors which need to be taken into consideration if one intends to have a good website layout. Let’s take a look on a few key points that helps in creating a good website layout.
User-Friendliness
The ease with which a user can navigate through a website determines whether the user would return back to the website. If we use highly complex navigational links, most probably the user would exit the site immediately. Also, the search engine cannot index the pages effectively due to complex navigation. The use of bulky images is not advised. Use of smaller images instead grabs the visitor’s attention.
Readability
The fonts used in the website shouldn’t be fancy unless it is a blog or personal website. Any standard fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, Tahoma etc can be used. The spacing of between the lines should also be apt so that the content is easily readable.
Colors
The combination of colors that is used as a theme in your website should is of uttermost importance. The colors that might be very much appealing to one might not be so attractive to others. So it is always better to get it reviewed with a few close friends or colleagues, so that the combination is one that is appealing in general. The colors used should also be web safe, so that they look the same in all browsers and computers.
Dimensions
The most important eye-catching content should always be visible in the website without scrolling. Adding horizontal scroll-bars might be annoying to many users. Your layout should be set in such a way that the content shrinks or expands based on the change in size of the browser window.
The web page height also should not be more than 4 to 5 scrolls. If more content needs to be put, it should be moved to a new page.
Size
Web page size is determined by the text, images and files that are used in your web page. If there are more images and Flash files included into your web page, it might take longer time to view it. If the loading time is more than 10 seconds, it’s very likely that the user will leave the site immediately.
Most of the web surfers prefer websites that are both attractive and fast. So there is a trade-off between the amount of graphics that is used by your site and the time taken by it to load. Page size is vital especially for a high volume site as the bandwidth required by such sites will be more.
Make sure the fonts used are standard ones and the color combinations are appealing. Users love to revisit sites that are simple and easy to navigate. The more user-friendly the site is the more traffic you get. The website layout plays a very significant role in taking your content to the masses and we need to make sure that every visitor has a pleasant experience.
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