[Web Design] How to use visual elements to structure and boost your website

In our previous article, we described the importance and effects of images on your website.
Today, we go a step further into the importance of your website design, including tips based on our own experiences and our clients’ experiences. 

A study from Technology Lab has shown that 46.1% of the people say that website design is the most valued criteria to criticize the credibility of a company. We selected a few essential elements for a structured website design:

1. The Importance of Visual Consistency

David McCandless, Data Journalist, explains during a TedTalk the unconscious visual adaption of a person's brain. He explains that the human sight is the fastest sense (as fast as a computer network), this means people unconsciously adapt a massive load of information through visuals, knowing this, you are able to adjust your content to this opportunity. However, this also brings difficulties. One of the difficulties is that, when people adapt visual information unconsciously, they are more likely to recognize inconsistency while adapting that same information. Inconsistency can lead to a misunderstanding of your content, negative experiences with your website and lastly, it can make a company look unorganized and sloppy.

2. Visual Contribution

Research has shown that content that includes visual elements has a better conversion rate than content without a visual element. The main reason for the increase of leads is that content with a visual element is attention grabbing which results in more captures from your website visitors.
Secondly, content allows visitors to adapt information easier. Research has shown that 90% of the information a person adapts, is visual. Moreover, 40% of the people likely to respond are more satisfied with the visual content. An easy way to implement more visual content into your website is the usage of StockPhotos. Images help visitors to understand and get an impression of your company. Want to learn how to get free stock photos and how to use them? Read our previous article to get access to over 60.000 StockPhotos and learn more about the benefits of using images.

3. Structured (Visual) Content

A structured website is a fundament for consistency. Before you (re)design your website we suggest you create a visual outline. A visual outline creates a structured fundament for your website. One of the ways to create a visual outline is to develop a mock-up in a program like Balsamiq. Balsamiq allows you to drag&drop elements into a canvas, which represents your (re)designed website. A carefully considered and planned structure helps to give the visitor a positive experience with your website and thus your company.