When it comes to websites, the layout and design serves a function that goes beyond mere aesthetics. A website’s look has the ability to influence user behavior, so the design and development phase isn’t something that Prestige Technologies wants you to take lightly.

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In order to ensure that a user gets the best experience from your website and does exactly what you want them to do, Prestige recommends paying attention to the following elements:

Size

In web design and development, size does matter – for a number of reasons. The first and most important is simply a matter of getting people’s attention. A call to action that’s in a teeny-tiny font size won’t attract the same kind of attention (if at all) as a call to action that is larger than the rest of the paragraph text.

Additionally, size works as a sort of cue card for users, guiding them where to look and how much weight to put into elements. Making something small relative to the rest of the site subconsciously tells them to pay little attention to it, while making elements big gives users the idea that this is an important part and should be given immediate attention.

Color

Colors are a hotline to emotions, so it naturally goes a long way when influencing user behavior. This goes much farther than simply using colors to build a brand or image, as you can actually use specific colors to inspire certain emotions on users. For instance, red is the color commonly associated with fire and blood, making it likely to inspire passion and aggressiveness.

If you want your readers to feel aggressive and passionate about a message or a slogan, use red in some of the elements. On the other end of the spectrum, you have blue as a way to promote calm, depth, and peacefulness, owing to the fact that people associate it with the colors of the sky and ocean. You can also mix and match – white for purity and trustworthiness, then mix it with purple to give an air of authority and royalty and you have yourself a site that is perfect for an industry that requires credibility.

Layout

The arrangement of elements on your website itself and how you present content is very important to user experience. Each aspect of a website, from the header, to the footer, and even the buttons need to be designed in a way that will help make it easier for the user to navigate around the website without encouraging them to click. In fact, something as simple as putting outbound links at the footer while putting the on-site links at the header and sidebar will go a long way in encouraging users to stick around, thereby improving your site’s bounce rate.

Last But Not The Least: Tie Everything Together

All of the above elements can be used on their own, but to be more effective, you can use all of them, as they all have a synergistic way of working together in order to influence user behavior. For instance, create a series of buttons that are shaped like an arrow pointing to which section they need to access next, then have the final one be slightly larger than the rest and in red color, just to drive home the point that it’s the end goal. The trick is knowing which elements do which, and using them all as part and parcel of one big tool designed to get users to do something very specific.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2014 at 7:34 am and is filed under Content Management System. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.