YOU ARE HERE: HOMEDesign your own web page like a pro with these great tips.

Design your own web page like a pro with these great tips.

In this excerpt, you’ll learn how to design a website that is clear and easy for your users to interact with. You’ll also see some great examples of truly exceptional web page layout design.

What defines a good web page design?

Good web page design is entirely determined by the way the end user interacts with the design. End users must not only find the site attractive enough to stay, but they must also be able to use and navigate the site quickly and easily, or they won’t return.


How do you design the different parts of a web page?

From header to footer, web page layout requires the creation of basic page elements that orient end users and help them find what they’re looking for. Headers ground the user, establishing the brand and often presenting a clear call to action. A web page’s feature area might offer a focal point that takes up a large space on the homepage and includes bold, vibrant images and large, clear text. Content, as they say, is king, because users spend most of their time on a website interacting with content. Learn how to help your users interact with all of these elements better though effective layout.

Why does web page layout matter?

Choosing the right layout is crucial because it determines how your end user interacts with your website, whether that’s on a tablet, a mobile phone, a laptop or a desktop monitor. Eye tracking studies have determined that people view web pages from left to right, top to bottom on most desktop or laptop computer screens. To accommodate users’ needs on these platforms, your web page layout must present all of the most important information “above the fold,” just like a newspaper layout. This helps the user identify the hierarchy of information on the page and locate the content he or she is seeking.

How do you create a successful web page layout design?

A web page design is the most successful when it appeals to the lowest common denominator—that is, people who do not understand how to use computers must be able to navigate the web page’s layout. Amazon.com is renowned for having a successful web design because its designers implemented the first tab-style navigation, which mimics the tabs of manila folders.

Some classic approaches to web design never change, and layout is one of those areas that requires classic application of new technologies. Enjoy this excerpt from Anatomy of a Web Page, which shows three of the seven segments necessary for creating your page.

Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; interface design; authoring, including standardised code and proprietary software; user experience design; and search engine optimization. Often many individuals will work in teams covering different aspects of the design process, although some designers will cover them all.[1] The term web design is normally used to describe the design process relating to the front-end (client side) design of a website including writing markup. Web design partially overlaps web engineering in the broader scope of web development. Web designers are expected to have an awareness of usability and if their role involves creating markup then they are also expected to be up to date with web accessibility guidelines.