How to design a good website

When it comes to designing a good website, firstly you have to work out what exactly makes a good website? An element of this can be a matter of opinion however the majority is done by following some fundamental design guidelines.  These guidelines are not to be followed strictly and are simply my opinion on how to design. Design should be a natural, organic process that at the end produces something beautiful.

Colour – colour can convey emotion instantly and is therefore very important. Combinations of colours are also very important. Having the correct combination of colours requires skill, practice or good resources. A great tool to use would be Adobe Kuler who provides colour swatches that look great together.

Layout – when I am designing a website I always work to a grid system, ensuring all elements of my website are to scale, proportion and aligned correctly. On most fixed sized web sites I usually work to a 920px wide grid that will look good in most browser sizes. If you cannot cater to everyone they try to cater for as many as you can. You can find out user browsers and screen resolutions by using Google Analytics.

Code – when coding your website you only need to follow one rule, comply with w3c standards. W3C offer html and css validation on their website, make good use of this resource.

To summarise design is very subjective and sometimes misunderstood, try to understand your audience and design for them. Also look for inspiration in others, never copy someone’s work however do take inspiration.

This article was written by Jack Millard a web designer and developer based in Bath, UK. Jack runs Cloud Web Solutions who provide web design and SEO services, for more information take a look at web design bath.