Web Page Design Standards

The internet changed everything! Now, most businesses use websites as nonstop shops for selling and promoting. So, when a company wants to show its offerings, the first step is creating a website. Creating a website may seem easy, but it can be tricky, especially when adhering to design standards. To create a website, you require a name (the domain name) and a place to store all its stuff (the web hosting). An original domain name and reliable web hosting can give your website a good head start and help it stand out from all those other websites. 

What Is A Domain and Why Is It Important? 

A domain is like a website’s name and address on the internet, and it’s super important. Without it, you’d have to use a long, hard-to-remember IP address to visit a site. Think of it like this: “wikipedia.org” is a domain name, but you don’t know Wikipedia’s IP address. Also, no two websites can have the same domain name, just like no two people have the same fingerprints. 

This little part of the internet lets you visit your favorite online stores, blogs, and other needs. Domain names aren’t just about people finding your website—they also affect how visitors see you before they check out what you offer to them. Even if you think choosing a domain name may seem to have nothing to do with design standards, you must be selective. Your domain name gives users an idea about your website and what you do. It’s super helpful for marketing and makes more people aware of your brand. 

Registering a domain name is usually straightforward, but picking the perfect one can challenge you, the website owner. Remember, the first thing people notice before visiting your website is the domain name. Choosing the right one is not just about the name – it also affects how well your site appears on search engines. Also, don’t forget to check our web design services to improve your site.

What Should Be Considered When Creating A Domain Name For A Website? 

We learned more or less what a domain name is. So, what should you consider when choosing a domain name? These five elements will guide you on what design standards you should follow when choosing a domain name for your website. 

Be The Only One Renting Your Domain Name

If you like making websites or anything similar, you might have encountered “domain name registration” or “leasing.” This means signing up and renting a name for your website. The main rule for domain names is simple: if you’re renting one, ensure you’re the only one using it. You can buy a domain from different intermediary websites, but it’s best to do it directly without getting someone else involved. This way, you avoid potential problems or disputes with them claiming rights over your website. 

You don’t buy a domain name forever; it’s more like renting it yearly. So, you have to renew it regularly, or someone else can grab it. If you forget to continue, it’s like throwing away your investment in your website. Businesses, especially, must be careful and renew the domain without any issues, following design standards. So, check the best domain registrar options here.

A Domain Name Must Be Long

Short and simple domain names matter for Google ranking. Long ones are not user-friendly, making it hard for people to remember your website. Also, they might look like spam to search engines. Therefore, picking relevant keywords in your domain name will keep your domain name short and help you rank high on Google. 

Avoid Confusion In The Domain Name 

When choosing a domain name, avoid using punctuation marks and numbers, as they can cause confusion in the name and create difficulties for visitors who will revisit the website. 

Selection of Service and City Name 

If you’re into marketing, throwing in your sector and city in your domain name can up your site’s visibility and charm for customers on search engines. Plus, it gives visitors a more solid impression. 

Preference for the “.com” Extension

People like domain names with “.com” extensions more than “.net” or “.org” because it’s what they’re used to and what search engines like. When picking your domain name, choose something that fits “.com.” If not, come up with a new name that does. 

After choosing the domain name for our site, the next step is to select the web hosting company that will help us get this domain name. Because when you get your domain name, you need to point it to the servers of a web hosting provider. Check the best web hosting services. In this way, your website files become accessible over the internet. Many companies offer a combination of domain name registration and web hosting services.

This can make it easier to manage and integrate both elements from one place. Therefore, when creating a website, you need a web hosting service to register your domain name and host your website files. Getting these services from the same provider can often make management more effortless. 

How Can I Choose My Web Hosting? 

Websites are like online properties; to make them visible, they need a space called “hosting.” Hosting is a service that stores all your web page files on a computer daily, making them available to visitors. These computers are commonly known as “servers.”  

“Data centers” house web servers in locations. These centers have high-speed internet connections and rarely experience power disruptions. They also protect against natural disasters like floods or earthquakes, ensuring constant accessibility to your site. Moreover, web servers are more specialized than the computers you use at home or in the office. While you might think about getting your server and a robust internet connection, trust me, it’s costly! Therefore, choosing a hosting service that follows design standards is the most brilliant choice. 

What Criteria Should We Focus On When Selecting A Hosting Company? 

You may be asking yourself what is the connection between choosing a hosting company and website design standards. However, when you read the following elements, you will see a significant connection between website design standards and the hosting company you choose because the design is not only about the external appearance of your site but also the construction process. 

We Should Not Prefer The Ones With Very Cheap Prices

When choosing a hosting package, the more crucial factor than determining the features is to give a healthy answer to the question, “Which hosting company should I prefer?”. Hosting service is usually used by prepaying annually and, in some packages, monthly. Choosing among many hosting companies, such as Hostinger, Hostgator, Bluehost, and GoDaddy, can be challenging. In this case, the point to be considered is that the hosting plan provided by the companies is not sold at prices contrary to commercial logic. 

Selling a hosting plan at unreasonable prices poses the risk of not being able to use the purchased service until the end of the service period. Because many new companies in the industry try to offer services at meager prices to attract more customers, they quietly leave the industry if they can’t get enough customers or can’t pay for the data center. In that case, you might not reaccess your site files. That means you would waste the money and effort you put into your site. So, before you look at the price of the hosting service, check how long the company has been in the business. 

Besides these issues, extremely cheap hosting plans can slow your website load and disrupt the visitor experience due to overcrowding. Another factor contributing to a potential loss of visitors is the business’s after-sales service policy. Websites are accessible 24/7, and server technical problems can arise anytime. If a hosting company only offers technical support during working hours, you may risk losing visitors as it might provide delayed support for issues occurring outside those hours. 

PHP Mail Function Should Be Turned Off

In many hosting companies, the PHP email function is turned off. This function is kept off because emails can be sent directly without any verification in the PHP email function. This leads to the email being perceived as spam and ending in the junk folder. IP addresses associated with websites that constantly send spam emails are naturally blocked by major email providers such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yandex, and many other big email service providers. Of course, as website owners, you wouldn’t want your site to be blocked. So, ensure that the ‘PHP mail function’ is turned off. 

Ensuring the Activation of GZIP and Cache Memory Features 

Large-capacity files on websites can slow down the website. Users do not want to visit a site that does not open or whose pages load slowly. This situation negatively impacts your site’s performance and sends you to the lower rankings of search engines. Users always gravitate toward pages at the top. Therefore, GZIP, which involves file compression, is essential. 

The use of cache memory, especially for storing operations performed on your devices, is provided. Cache memory usage, like GZIP, ensures faster performance of devices such as computers, phones, or tablets, enhancing the memory of processes performed on the devices. 

Stylistic Criteria for Best Website Design 

Now, we have come to the stage of design standards that most of you have in mind. When someone from your target audience visits your site, they first see the layout, design, and colors. Complicated templates and mismatched colors can drive users away and distract them from your content. Plus, that’s why you need to adhere to design standards. When designing, consider where and how your content appears on the page. 

You design your site with a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla, or Squarespace. Many people without coding knowledge use these systems to create a website. But don’t mix up CMS with website building tools; website builders help create a site without technical knowledge, usually using a drag-and-drop editor. Website builders are simpler than CMS and suitable for a ready-made site. However, they offer similar templates, making your site fall behind. Using website builders gives you less control while designing your website. 

Regardless of your choice, whether you choose website builders or CMS, your site’s appearance depends on the themes you choose. You can adjust details like font, colors, and layout using your chosen theme. No matter what you choose, consider these five elements when creating your website’s theme. 

Choosing Colors for a Well-Designed Website

Some may think that considering colors comes at the end, but that’s not quite right. Color harmony can make or break a user’s attention. That’s why it’s essential to pick the right colors for your website, keeping in mind the industry and your target audience from the start of the design process. If you’re in a corporate field or sales, go for simple, light tones. Using too many colors and different writing styles might make your website unclear.  

However, if you are planning to create a website in the entertainment industry or if the target audience of your website is children, you can use brighter color tones and a broad color palette. 

Font Styles in Website Design 

Once you’ve established the main template in web design, don’t overlook font styles too. That is also another critical aspect of your website. The design standards we mentioned that you should consider when choosing colors for your website should also be considered when selecting fonts; that is, you should focus on your site’s target audience.

Originality in Website Design 

The most straightforward and prestigious design related to the sector should be created for a quality web design. We should avoid ready-made templates about the industries and the site builders we mentioned. Recently, the number of ready-made websites has damaged the corporate identities of businesses. This damage also has unnecessary and incorrect coding that will disrupt the website’s SEO infrastructure. Adhering to established design standards becomes paramount in this context. Errors in this infrastructure also negatively affect all advertising activities for the target audience. For this reason, the design must be original, and no ready-made materials should be preferred. Learn more about SEO and web design.

Browser and Mobile Compatibility Website Design 

After creating the general template and adding all the necessary materials to the content, testing the website with all popular web browsers is crucial to ensure a consistent and proper appearance. Websites that fail to achieve a precise and smooth appearance on all browsers that potential users may choose are destined to lose users. Websites with error codes or faulty designs will quickly drive users away. 

Creating mobile-compatible websites is now a necessity. Almost every web design company ensures that sites are mobile-friendly. For those designing a website, the most critical aspect is making the website user-friendly. The user-friendliness of your website means that it fully adapts to the screens of various devices, whether a mobile phone, tablet, or television, irrespective of the device’s name or features. Additionally, adhering to design standards ensures consistency and professionalism in your website’s overall presentation and functionality.

Reflecting Corporate Identity in Website Design 

Corporate identity is undoubtedly crucial. In this aspect, prioritize highlighting your corporate identity over personal preferences. Convey to your customers and target audience that you take your industry and business seriously. Integrate custom logos, banners, letterheads, and graphics into your website. Always avoid excesses and communicate your corporate identity to your target audience and potential customers through simple yet effective language, both in writing and visually. Additionally, follow design standards to ensure consistency and professionalism. 

In addition to considering these five elements, many website designs commonly incorporate specific design standards. Although the utilization of these standards may vary slightly in design from person to person, neglecting these elements can affect your site’s performance.  

The Typical Standards In Most Website Designs Include 

Typical standards adopted in most website designs aim to improve user experience, provide quick access to information, and strengthen brand image. Elements such as aesthetic design, user-friendly interfaces, and fast loading times generally form the basis of these standards. These standards are essential to establishing a successful presence in the digital world by enabling websites to reach and engage a broad audience effectively. The main elements of typical standards found in most website designs are: 

The Logo Placement 

Websites have their secret language, beginning with a logo. It shows that almost 100% of websites researched have a clickable logo in the top left corner of every page on their site. If we do a short research and surf a few different popular sites, the truth of this situation comes to light. Of course, this situation changes for some sites by having the logo in the right corner. However, having a large login in the upper left or right corner is the main element that makes a site a site and shows the visitor which site he is on when he enters that website. 

Contact Link or Info at the Top of the Website  

Have you ever seen that box at the top of websites that says “Contact Us”? It’s like a digital handshake, letting you connect with the website owners. Suppose the website belongs to a foundation, organization, store, or office. In that case, you might find more than just an email – they might share their address and phone numbers too, or a section where you can leave your personal information so the authorities can contact you.  

Why does it matter? Well, that contact section isn’t just there for looks. Having a contact section on the site gives the visitor the confidence that they can easily reach the authorized person in case there is a problem, and thus makes your site look more corporate. 

Navigating with Ease: The Top Main Menu 

Have you ever noticed that almost every website you explore has its main menu at the top? It’s like the digital compass guiding you through your online journey. The main menu, significantly positioned at the top, is like your go-to contact information – where you can easily find it. But why is it placed at the top? Well, it’s all about prioritizing you, the user. This user-centric design is crafted to ensure your needs and expectations are met. 

But having the main menu at the top isn’t only a design choice; it’s a strategic move to organize information effectively. It establishes the hierarchy of what matters most on the site, offering highlights and shortcuts to key pages. And, of course, adhering to design standards ensures a consistent and professional look.  

Eye-Catching Home Page: The Power of Visual Elements 

Have you ever wondered why websites love to deck out their home pages with visuals? It’s not just for show. This is also a strategy for those who will open a website and aim to increase user visits to your website. 

Visual elements on the home page play a significant role in web design. They don’t just make the site look good; they impress users, highlight its purpose, and deliver information quickly. Since the home page is often the first stop for visitors, using powerful visuals becomes vital. These charming visuals attract visitors’ attention from the first moment. 

The trick is simple: the more curious the home page makes the visitor, the longer they stick around. And that’s what effective site design aims for. Visual elements aren’t just about aesthetics; they guide the visitor’s attention and can quick specific actions, like hitting that “Buy” or “Sign Up” button. Here, it becomes clear again that design standards are not only about visuality. 

Search Bar Magic: Finding What You Need at the Top

Have you ever wished websites had a magic wand to help you find exactly what you want? Well, they do (and your website can do, too); it’s called the search bar at the top! When a site has a search bar next to the main menu, it’s like rolling out the red carpet for visitors. Why? Because it says, “Hey, we’re user-friendly, and your experience here matters.” Especially on those big, complex sites where not everything can be squeezed into the main menu, visitors can quickly find what they need with the search bar. 

Now, let’s talk on mobile. Creating a mobile-friendly design can be like piecing together a puzzle as more folks surf the web on smaller screens. But fear not! The search bar is the superhero for mobile users, making getting the information they want much more accessible. So, next time you’re on a website, give that search bar a go. And don’t forget to try our mobile-friendly test tool!

Creation of A Website By Design Standards

We discussed essential criteria for website design standards, emphasizing structural and formal aspects. We concluded that the stages of creating a website are like baking a cake, as some of you may have thought when reading this article. 

While making a cake, no visible image appears while mixing the ingredients. However, the quality and choice of ingredients reveal the final appearance and taste of the cake. Choosing a domain name and web hosting are as vital as the ingredients that flavor a cake, even though they don’t directly affect the website’s appearance. For this reason, we advise you to consider our recommendations on selecting a domain name and web hosting. 

After all, In our article, we have presented many ideas on how to create a website by design standards and how to give it to users. Of course, introducing the concept is up to us, but the implementation is up to you. However, if you follow our humble ideas, we are sure you will have a cake that suits everyone’s taste.