Choosing a website design or template is a critical step that directly affects how your project is perceived, how easy it is to use, and the overall user experience. Below are the key aspects to consider when selecting or developing a design.
Functionality and website goals
Start with the goals of your website:
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For a blog.
A clean, readable design where the focus is on text content. -
For an online store.
A convenient purchasing process, product filtering features, and clear, intuitive navigation are essential. -
For a corporate website.
A professional and modern style with an emphasis on presenting the company and its services. -
For a portfolio.
Visual presentation is especially important so that projects look appealing and well-organized.
Responsiveness and mobile optimization
Responsiveness is a crucial requirement for any modern website.
Your site should display correctly on smartphones, tablets, and screens of various resolutions, automatically adapting to different devices and browsers.
Always check how a template behaves on mobile devices. A significant portion of users access websites from smartphones. If the mobile version is inconvenient to use, you risk losing a large part of your audience.
Page load speed
Slow-loading pages discourage users and negatively affect search engine rankings. While page load time is primarily influenced by the user’s internet connection, hosting quality, and CMS configuration, the website design also plays an important role.
Key design-related factors include:
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Minimalism.
The more graphics and animations a site uses, the longer it takes to load. Choose designs without unnecessary images or effects. When selecting a ready-made template, pay attention to its overall size in kilobytes or megabytes. -
Code quality.
Some templates contain excessive or unused code that slows down the website.
Visual alignment with your brand
The website design should match your brand’s visual identity and feel consistent with it. Fonts and typography also carry meaning and influence perception. Choose fonts that look professional and are easy to read.
Some ready-made templates do not fully support non-Latin characters. Before purchasing a template, make sure all text is displayed correctly in different languages.
Design elements and usability
Almost every website uses a set of standard design elements. Their appearance and placement may vary depending on the project.
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Header.
Located at the top of the website and displayed on all pages. It usually contains the logo and the main navigation menu. It may also include a search field, a “Log in” button, social media icons, and key contact details. -
Navigation menu.
Often part of the header, though sometimes placed on the side. The main menu contains links to core sections of the website. If there are subcategories (for example, within a “Products” section), dropdown menus are commonly used. -
Footer.
Located at the bottom of the website. It typically includes copyright information, links to important sections, social media links, and main contact details. Legal links such as Terms of Service and Privacy Policy are also usually placed here in smaller text. -
Sidebar.
Most commonly used on blogs and news websites. It may contain additional menus, widgets, popular posts, categories, and other supplementary content.