A lot of people say that design is subjective. While this is true, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t best practices established that can help you create better web designs. When 38% of consumers are reported to stop interacting with websites that they find unattractive, getting things right is more important than ever.

If you’re still trying to learn the website design basics, this post will help. Below are five design fundamentals that are worth learning today.

1. Keep Things Simple

If you throw a lot of information in front of your website visitors as soon as they enter your site, how do you expect them to know what to do? The only thing you’re going to do is confuse them and cause them to leave.

Simple is better in most cases. Make your pages clear and straight to the point. There should be no question about what to do when someone lands on your website.

2. Start With Mobile

Mobile users aren’t a minority anymore. You should expect a large portion of your website’s traffic to come from mobile devices. This trend means you can’t ignore small screens anymore.

You can make things easier by taking a mobile-first approach to your design. It’s much easier to add on to something than it is to subtract. Once you create your mobile layout, you can start adding elements that will be shown to desktop users.

3. Use Safe Fonts

If you’re trying to make your site unique, you might be tempted to use a creative font that stands out from the crowd. The problem is, these fonts aren’t always easy to read.

Make sure you learn which fonts look good on all devices. A font that looks good on your screen may not look the same way on every device.

4. Create Visual Content

You want your visitors to stay engaged with your website. If the only thing you’re using is text, you may have problems keeping people engaged. Make sure you include visual content in your pages to keep your audience’s attention.

You can either sprinkle images through your page or create your content using infographics. Make sure you read more about the usage of images in design so you can use them right.

5. Don’t Use Too Many Colors

There is an entire science behind color theory. You don’t need to learn it all, but you should learn which colors are complementary to each other and the emotions they evoke.

Use these colors to create a color palette for your site. Don’t add in new colors everywhere you can. Keep your colors consistent and straightforward.

Don’t Ignore the Website Design Basics

While trends will come and go, website design basics don’t change that often. Make sure you learn what they are so that you can apply them to all your future designs. You can apply everything you learn today to whatever trend comes up in the future.

If you want to learn more design fundamentals that you can use to build your website, our blog can help. Read the rest of our posts to learn everything else you need to know.