The Top 10 essentials of a contemporary web design

Which of these design elements are you using to enhance your web experience and conversion?

If you're launching a new site or refreshing an existing site it's important to ensure your site looks contemporary and appealing. Since website design styles and technologies change so rapidly, can quickly appear dated.

A site that meets your business goals, communicates your key messages and provides a great experience is most important as explained in the Smart Insights guide to improving results from your website. But to design a successful web site, it is also essential to know what trends are emerging and what elements are important to consider. Surely, different web pages are created for different purposes, so they will not, probably, have much in common. However, there will be certain generally used elements that can be added to a webpage to make it more successful.

Here is a checklist of features to consider.

1.Sizeable and Striking Responsive Images

The visual impact that a web page produces on its visitors is one of the key issues to think about when you are designing a web page, particularly the home page. So, you should choose images carefully in order to catch your visitors' attention at once, because images create strong visual experience and encourage the reader to scroll further. Whether you insert illustrations of your products and services, or whether you want to present your team and your projects, images should be large and qualitative. In addition, web pages with responsive design will allow your images to adjust to various types of screens, so you can be sure that your website will look equally good and you will ensure the best experience for your visitors, no matter what device they are using.

2. Animation and Visual Effects

To add to the visual impression, various visual effects and animation are used. One of the most popular effects is Parallax that creates the feeling of a true immersion, provides an unforgettable experience and makes your visitors want to come back to your site. Moreover, animation effects can be used to present the content of the web page. For instance, Post Carousel not only gives your visitors an opportunity to enjoy browsing your products in a sliding carousel but also saves your precious space on the page

3. Sophisticated and Stunning Typography

Another element to reinforce the visual impact on your visitors is typography. First of all, fonts are used to direct your visitors' attention to a certain text. Secondly, they are applied to emphasize the general design of your web page. Carefully chosen fonts will tie in with the style of your web page, thus making it look more appealing. A lot of contemporary web templates contain a large variety of Google-integrated fonts, so you can select the ones that will best fulfill your needs.

4. Presented Products or Featured Video

Videos as a part of a web page are becoming more and more popular. First of all, they are aimed at those people who prefer getting information while watching videos rather than reading. Secondly, it is possible to save the space on the web page in such a way, because sometimes it is easier to present products or services in a video than to describe them with the help of the text on the web page. Moreover, it is an effective way to tell people about your company in the way you wish them to remember. As an example, take a look at presents Template Monster

4. Smart and Speedy Search

When people visit a web page, they are usually looking for some information or goods. Even if your webpage is crafted thoroughly and includes a powerful menu for an easier navigation, an effective search box will facilitate the process of finding appropriate results. This element is particularly useful for those websites that include a huge variety of products or goods. When you add new content, the web page grows, so a search box will promote navigation and increase your visitors' chances of finding both old and new information that they need.

6. Shopping Cart and Pricing Tables

As more and more people do their shopping online, efficient web stores should think about their customers' comfort. A shopping cart is an indispensable element in such cases because they allow visitors to add the goods that they want to purchase to their online cart whenever they want. In addition, pricing tables, which give you a chance to present differences in features of your goods in a simple, but effective way, let your visitors compare prices for different goods, thus making the process of choosing a needed item faster.

7. Controlled Calendar and Appointment Manager

When your company deals with meetings, timetables and appointments, you cannot overestimate online calendars and appointment managers. An effective calendar on a website helps both your visitors and you to plan the time. An appointment manager will let your customers book a meeting with you without leaving your website. This manager will be enormously useful for numerous companies, such as fitness clubs, clinics, beauty salons, art schools, and many more.

8. 'Meet the team' page

If you want to promote your specialists and to present information about your company's team, you will find an option 'Meet the Team' exceptionally useful. It gives you a chance to clearly and logically structure the information about professionals working in your company and to impress your visitors with their achievements. In this case, your readers will develop trust to your team, as they will definitely know who they are working with. You can emphasize your workers' achievements, and your team will not appear to be faceless to the visitors.

9. 'Call to Action' Buttons

It is impossible to imagine a modern web page without such buttons that incite a person to do something. These buttons can be used to encourage visitors to follow a link to find out further information, to subscribe to your website's channel and so on.

10. Stay in Touch: Contact Information and Social Media

To communicate with your visitors regularly and effectively, it is vital to present your contact information in an appropriate way. You can include your phone number, emails, address, and so on. Carefully designed contact information will promote communication. In addition, social media buttons will let your visitors follow you on various social network and share your information quickly, thus attracting new visitors to your website.

To sum up, different elements of contemporary web design are providing effective ways to save the space on the web page, to present the content to the best advantage, and to promote your communication with people.