The 6 Key Elements of Award Winning Website Design

Some websites just get a pass mark, while others take users’ breath away and instil a lasting impression of the brand. Your business website is much more than simply communicating essential information about your business. According to Sydney web designers Magicdust, ‘your website should be a reflection of your brand, outline what doing business with you is like and explain the key value that you offer to your clients’. After viewing multiple award-winning websites, we have narrowed down the six key elements that make those websites remarkable.

Content is the way you provide information for your users on your website. Content is not limited to text, but also encompasses music, sound effects, animation, and video – anything that communicates the messages on your website. Great website content should be engaging, relevant, and appropriate for your audience – you can tell it has been intent for the internet because it is clear and concise. Great content takes a stand: it has a strong voice and a point of view. Content may be informative, useful, or humorous, but it always leaves you curious for more.

Structure and navigation refers to the website’s framework, content organisation, the information architecture, and the means by which you navigate around a site. Websites with first-rate structure and navigation are intuitive, consistent, and transparent. They let the visitor form a subconscious model of the information that has been provided: where to locate things and what to expect when clicking. Great navigation on website template allows the visitor to instinctually know where they want to go, and allows simple access to the breadth and depth of the content on the website.

Visual design is the appearance of the website. Visual design is about more than just having an attractive homepage, but it does not have to be cutting-edge or on-trend. Effective visual design is of a high quality and is appropriate and relevant to both the audience and the company’s message. Design communicates a strong visual experience and most of all, a story.

Functionality refers to the utilisation of technology on the website. Excellent functionality means that the site operates effectively. The website loads rapidly, has live links, and any new technology implemented is functional and relevant to the intended audience. The website should work across platforms and also should be browser agnostic. Websites that are highly functional foresee the diversity in users’ requirements, from personalised content to conditional CSS. The most functional websites also take into account those users with special access needs. Great functionality brings the experience to centre stage and makes the technology imperceptible.

Interactivity is the manner in which a website allows a user to undertake an action. Great interactivity means more than just a rollover or choosing what to click on next; great interactivity allows the user to both give and to receive. This includes aspects such as searches, chat rooms, ecommerce, gaming or notification agents, personalisation, and feedback in real time. Having interactive elements is what distinguishes the internet from other forms of media. The inclusion of interactive elements makes it obvious that you are no longer reading a magazine or watching television. Interactivity requires you to be a immersed as a participant, rather than a spectator.

A website is more than the sum of its parts. The overall website experience incorporates content, interactivity, visual design, functionality, and structure and navigation. The overall experience also includes the intangible aspects that make a visitor stay or leave. A website visitor has likely had a positive overall experience if the visitor returns on a regular basis or performs other ‘conversions’ like completing a newsletter sign-up, share the site with a friend, or is remain engaged with specific pages for a decent period of time.