In today’s world, having a strong web presence is of utmost importance. It’s not uncommon for consumers to use the internet as their go-to resource for finding a new company or brand to try. Because of this, the design of your website is crucial to your success.

There are several ways to create a successful website. There are also many ways you can unknowingly turn potential leads away through poor design. We’ve created a short list for you to use as a guide, including the good, the bad and the ugly. This can be used whether you’re creating a new website from scratch or have decided you’d like to revamp your preexisting one.

1. Everything on your site should be useful or informative.
   Design isn’t just about making your website pretty. It’s about content too. The purpose of having a website is to provide consumers with information, be it an “About Me” page or an advice column. If your website doesn’t utilize the space well, you’ll be hard-pressed keeping anybody around too long. Fill each space utilized with clever and useful information. This is by far most important.
2. Keep it simple.
   There are very few people who enjoy going to a cluttered website. When consumers have to weed through the flashing advertisements and GIFs in order to get the information they came for, they’ll often become overwhelmed or frustrated. This usually results in consumers leaving your page before you would like them to. Keeping your website as simple as possible while still using just the right amount of graphics and content is always the safest way to go.
3. Say no to pop-up windows.
   Pop-up windows have never been a good idea. Once upon a time, they may have been effective in catching attention. But it is certain that they have always been annoying. Anytime someone has to close a pop-up window, whether it’s your front page welcoming new visitors, or a blurb about joining a newsletter, their flow is being disrupted. And you don’t want to do this to your readers. You want anyone who winds up on your site to have as smooth an experience as possible. For this reason, just leave the pop-up windows for the scam artists.
4. Take the time to organize.
   It should be easy to navigate your website. It should never be like a mouse trap for readers to find what they’re looking for. Always have a search bar. And understand what it is that’s most important to have readily available for your visitors. The more clicks a reader has to go through in order to find what they need, the more likely they are to eventually give up and leave your page all together. Avoid this through proper placement and organization.

While there is indeed so much more to web design, following these four basic principles will help you immensely.