Best Websites

Identifying websites as quality and best Websites is based on several factors. On many occasions, we come across websites and mindlessly ignore the functionality of a web page. Also, we have become accustomed to quickly browsing well-put-together essential web pages, but have you ever stopped wondering what makes a good website? What was the purpose of the website design process?

What Makes A Website fall into the category of Best Websites?

A website is a collection of web pages on the World Wide Web considered as a single entity linked together. Most websites are handled by the company that created them for a person or company, with web developers who have the skills for the entire website development process. The skills such professionals will include would be HTML, Cascading Style Sheets, and PHP (Server Side Scripting), to name a few.

It is also just for someone who owns it individually and works on it themselves. Websites are usually directed towards one topic, often the general purpose. Still, exceptions exist, such as Amazon, which sells items and online video streaming services. Every website has a home page, the first page the viewer sees. A home page can make or break a website because, at first glance, the viewer either likes it or does not, which dictates whether they will continue browsing.

User Interface (UI Web Design)

When we see one, most of us know a good website, but have never thought about what makes a good website. A quality website always has a good UI (User Interface). When a website is well put together, according to Skeptoid, the first thing they wrote, when judging whether a website is good or bad, was Style of Presentation, stating that how a website looks is one of the first ways someone judges whether a website is good or bad. An example of a great website is Merci Michel.

Great Web pages contain:

• Simplicity: Keep your site simple and well-organized.
• Fast loading pages: Limit the amount of data you use because if it takes too long for a page to load, you’ll lose more than half of your potential visitors (Refer to AMP websites for more information on mobile websites)
• Minimal scroll: Create links from the main page to read about a particular topic.
• Effective website development and website ranking.
• Consistent layout: Use a consistent structure and repeat certain elements throughout the site.
• Prominent, logical navigation: Create navigation with links because your visitors are in a hurry
• Descriptive link text: Make it easier for visitors to find their way around a site
• Cross-platform/browser compatibility: Different browsers often have different rules and resolution
• Effective SEO, first-page ranking, and online marketing strategies.

Simplicity of Websites

(image source for Best Websites: www.merci-michel.com – Small Business Websites)

When discussing website simplicity, they refer to the organization. “Perfect websites” maintain order and similar patterns in their texts and images. You cannot place your photos in different places away from the text about the photos, or it will look like a mess and scare visitors away.

Not overloaded with content

Ensuring your website is not overloaded with data is essential because it reflects your page’s load time. If your homepage has a lot going on, it will take longer to load, which could irritate visitors and make them click away. A way to minimize the chance a visitor will click off is to create a loading wheel that shows how much has loaded, so the visitor knows how long they have to wait (which is often less than 10 seconds).

Website Development includes Effective landing pages.

The web pages provide all the essential information for the website within the primary aspect ratio for a device. Creating a landing page (home page) that is short and to the point will be more helpful for your visitor and make their experience on your website much more efficient and straightforward. Also, creating links from the main home page will reduce clutter and unnecessary information.

Page layout

Page layout is a vital part of a website. How text, graphics, and other elements appear on a page is essential for your page’s appearance. Some basics of page layout include ensuring that all text in a given section follows the same centering rules and that the size and graphics have the correct aspect ratios.

Intuitive navigation

Having a navigation panel that is visible and easy to use on your website will result in higher visitor satisfaction and save them time. A navigation panel may sound bland, but creative websites know how to jazz it up with effects like drop-down menus or rolling letters.

Descriptive images

If you have a link to a page or an image that is unclear, adding a brief description can make your website more efficient. It will allow the visitor to navigate the website without confusion or misunderstanding. A great way to implement the mini description is through a hover-over effect.

Understanding screen resolution will make creating visually appealing websites much more achievable. Because every browser and device can have a different screen resolution, it can be hard to predict how to format, but once you figure out the tricks to make it look even across any browser, your web page will shine. A laptop-to-mobile format will differ from a desktop computer, but maintaining your layout across all devices will help you reach the most visitors, which is why responsive websites are a must!

Great Web Designs Always Have The Right Color

Selecting the right color combination is the most important factor in creating an appealing website. Color is a great way to add aesthetic appeal, but you must ensure your colors go well together and create a nice palette. You do not want a neon-yellow background with neon-orange font. Also, a balanced color palette is necessary for a good website. Ensuring your website has a single theme throughout the pages (unless different colors are part of the theme) is a great way to maintain neatness.

A great website to visit to test different colors is Adobe Kuler. The website allows users to view a color wheel and choose a color rule between Analogous, Monochromatic, Triad, Complementary, Compound, and Shades. These color rules result in perfect color palettes that look professionally chosen. Another website you can visit if you do not want to choose colors is Color-Hex, which has hundreds of user-made color palettes.

Poor Websites

source: suzannecollinsbooks.com –

Overall, websites can be found in many formats and creative designs, but that does not always mean they are good. It is straightforward to create an inefficient website or one that doesn’t work at all. This can be caused by a failure in web page coding, or by the idea for the website being simply pointless or lacking consideration for visitors.

Visually boring

Coming across a bad website is not that hard; for example, the official website of Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games, has sold over 87 million copies worldwide. Her website is bland and minimalist. Although her website has good content, facts for viewers, and simplicity, the creator has made it a visual bore, leading people to stop reading. Today, with many options for using our style sheet or JavaScript, this website has failed to draw attention, which is needed to keep viewers on the page.

Actual functionality

If we choose not to focus on aesthetic features and instead focus on the actual functionality of the web page, there are many hyperlinks throughout the website. The links to the book merely take you to a page listing books. There is no purchase option for them. There is also a link to Amazon, but clicking it takes me to the Amazon home page instead of the page with her books. Still, they all seem to be missed opportunities.

The panel of reviews on the right side of the website is poorly formatted, making it difficult to read. This website fails to consider a well-designed layout, ease of navigation, high-quality graphics, and basic formatting, making it an excellent example of what you should avoid when creating a website.

Security Within Websites

The internet offers various ways to release data. Any information can be found hidden on websites. It is imperative to have security to protect yourself from intruders, whether it’s credit card numbers or secret passwords. If you access certain information on the World Wide Web, you want to be ensured of proper security. The last thing you want is a random person to cash out your credit cards. Learn more about HTTP vs. HTTPS and why this should be seriously considered when building a brand new website, whether a startup or a large organization.

Social Media

Today, social media is everywhere around you in different ways. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are some of the biggest social media platforms. These applications interact very well with audiences of all ages. Nowadays, many companies integrate social media into their websites. Fans of any sport can connect with others through social media, and websites are designed for that. Also, social media on a website increases awareness of whatever you want the audience to view or buy. Social media will only continue to evolve, which is positive for companies and websites.

The internet is a large part of many people’s everyday lives, whether for social media, entertainment, or work. There is no doubt in my mind that, over the next five to ten years, social media will be increasingly associated with websites. Top-notch websites know how to maintain aesthetic appeal and functionality because, in modern times, we want quick results without appearing as though they were created by people who didn’t know what they were doing. The websites understand the need for simplicity and efficiency, and they recognize that they cannot compromise on quality.