Need website design inspo? Check out the best resources for design inspiration here.
Creating a website isn’t easy. There are various elements you need to consider when building a website, including the graphic design elements of different pages. However, the design of your website is vital to ensuring visitors can navigate your site easily.
Fortunately, many resources are available to help you narrow down the best graphic design elements for your website.
Website design 101 describes web design as the arrangement of elements on a page to create an attractive layout. It’s meant to target audiences looking for information or entertainment. Website designs typically provide functional purposes as well as visual stimulation. An organized website makes it easy for visitors to find what they came to you for.
Before you start looking at website design inspo, it's a good idea to review a few best practices.
Too many elements on a website page can slow down its loading time. Worse yet, a blank, white space will show up in place of where that web page is supposed to be.
Keeping your page simple can also help people on mobile devices view your content faster and more easily. Mobile traffic increased to almost 60% in 2022 and is expected to continue rising. Additionally, the next phase of internet speed for mobile devices revolves around the new optical fiber data transmission just announced by many internet service providers.
You can avoid user experience (UX) frustration if you format your graphics for fast loading. You can also use as few text decorations as possible to prevent slow-loading pages.
Website design consistency refers to keeping your navigation bar, menu items, backgrounds, headers, and images the same on all your pages.
This doesn’t mean every pixel has to look the same though. For example, you don’t need to add a large web form to every other page of your site – just on your “contact us” page.
You also won’t need a large header photo (also known as a master header or masthead) on every page. You can use it on your home page only. You can have different header images on different pages as long as they match your branding.
However, the link colors, header backgrounds, menus, and page or post backgrounds should stay the same. It’s also best not to use more than one or two heading fonts. All the paragraph fonts on your main page should be the same.
Staying on brand means ensuring your content, whether graphics or text, reflects your business.
For example, you don’t want to keep changing your logo colors every few months. Once you have decided on your visual branding, stick with it. Otherwise, you could confuse website visitors unless you announce that you’re updating your branding.
Brand consistency also means that your message aligns with the image you portray to the public. This means you must watch what you say wherever you display your brand, including your website, blog, and social media pages.
Make sure your website responds to the device that your users are on. If it doesn’t, make it responsive as soon as possible. This means that your website will conform to any device screen a person is using. As a result, your audience can say goodbye to pinching in order to enlarge the content.
One way to make your site responsive includes some CSS code tweaking. Before working on your website's code, ensure you understand the different resolutions you should aim for.
When you create a website with Mailchimp, it's sure to look good on several devices and browsers. The best thing is that you don’t need coding experience to get started.
Not testing your site live before inviting people to view and use it is like having a concert before a dress rehearsal. Testing different designs will ensure that your site has the best UX it can possibly have.
However, don’t just test your designs within your IT and creative crowd. Invite beta users to try out your website for the first time. In fact, asking them for feedback can provide valuable insight into the mechanics of your website. You may even discover issues you and your team missed.
Making sure a website is crawlable means that search engines found it and indexed it. When this happens, the content on it is automatically ranked on search engine results pages (SERP.)
This typically happens when you use organic keywords in your content that'll catalog your site. You also can increase your indexability if you run pay-per-click (PPC) ads. However, organic search engine optimization (SEO) usually feels more natural because you’re not paying to make your website popular.
One of the best practices for website design is ensuring your website is accessible. This should always be a part of its design from the beginning.
The American Disability Act (ADA) website is a great resource to help you make your sites easier to use for individuals who are blind or hard of hearing.
You also can view the information provided by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The W3C is one of the leading authorities on all that concerns website validation.
A properly coded website can have a significant impact on people with disabilities. And by being more inclusive in your website design, you can drive more traffic.
Website design inspiration comes in many forms. Sometimes, it just takes viewing design work submitted by users to a website gallery. These examples can help you find the website design inspo you need.
Awwwards keeps up with the latest trends in website design. They award webpages for their design, usability, creativity, and content. Try to find a few examples within your industry to leverage.
Behance showcases work from Adobe users. They have a website design category, where you can find consistent branding and identity examples.
Dribbble highlights work from designers all across the globe. Different categories include mobile and desktop websites and smartphone apps. You can also look at popular landing page designs for website design inspo.
Pinterest has become a social media platform for arts and crafts. It also includes a multitude of website designs. Pay attention to the ones people have liked and pinned the most and use those as examples.
SiteInspire proves that minimal website designs don’t have to be stale. Use it for inspiration as you create your website.
Web Design Inspiration is a top resource for design inspiration for your website. Look at the latest web design trends according to the type of website you want to create, or view designs by industry, style, or color.
If you need specific examples of great website designs, here are a few you should check out:
The Weltio website design features an easy-to-read font and only has two contrasting color shades.
The Apple website always appears clean. You can see each product’s features almost as if you were standing in a store right in front of them. All Apple web pages give you the impression that the designer prioritizes professionalism.
Not all e-commerce sites will portray a brand correctly if using too many colors on a website. However, it works with the Google brand because this company has a multicolored logo. This shows how using more than two colors on a website can sometimes work.
The Lemonade website has just enough hints of color and graphics against the white background and black text. The menu is easy to navigate, and the pages are well-organized.
The Warby Parker e-commerce site makes excellent use of demo images that stand out. Additionally, the product listings load as fast as they should and won’t make you regret waiting around for the page to load.
Now that you have a few resources for website design inspo, let’s take a look at some of the best design trends to know.
Claymorphism involves the use of mixing inner and outer shadows to create the appearance of shape depth. It helps create the feeling of 3D on a 2D website and adds the illusion of texture to a flat page.
Oversized typography, especially in black uppercase fonts, creates emphasis when you need it. It’s typically larger than standard heading font sizes. You’ll often see it appear on social media, but you can also use it in website headers. Sometimes, you can pair it with an easy-to-read script font.
Parallax scrolling creates a “motion picture effect” when you scroll. In this case, the background moves slower than the foreground.
Glassmorphism typically involves placing text over frosted-glass transparent boxes. This makes reading the content easy to do. In addition, it allows you to add a bright, busy, or pastel background, which you can't often layer under text without a transparent background.
The glassmorphism and claymorphism are technically two examples of graphic layering. You also could have a nature scene in the background and place a person in front of that. In another corner of a header, you can also place a rectangle or other shape. And inside of that, you can put your text.
It’s an easy way to create a logo without having to start a vector or illustrator drawing from scratch.
You don’t have to know how to code or go to school to learn how to design a website – although you could if you want. Sometimes, it just takes reading a little about website design tips that will help you sell more.
Ultimately, all you need is a good website builder. You can make a great website design with Mailchimp. Our website builder is free and easy to use, plus you'll have access to several professional templates that'll help your brand stand out.