The Psychology Behind Web Design

In today’s world, it seems like everyone has a website, and everybody around you has a lot of creative advice on how to approach making your own website. There are a lot of services and online website-making programs that setting up your new website may look as easy as possible, but what most of the people don’t know is the psychology behind the proper web design.

If you really want your website to make a difference and to stand out and generate traffic and leads, you should spend some time learning about some basic psychological aspects of web design. This way you can really understand what your visitors want and need, and you can learn how to address those needs.

We’ve done a bit of researching, and we’ve come across some useful tips that should help you understand how easy it is to learn and implement these psychological principles, as well as why you should do exactly that. So, without further ado, let’s get straight to it.

What is psychology-based design?

If you’re planning on making a website, your end goal is to generate as much traffic as possible. This means that a lot of different people have to visit that site, spend some time on it and help it grow into something way more serious. The best way you can start is by adapting the website to your users and potential clients.

You need to spend some time thinking about your focus group and how to keep them happy and satisfied. Having a happy and satisfied visitor very often turns to having a happy customer or a client, and making them happy calls for some learning.

When you have a psychology-based design, you’re ensuring certain traffic no matter what. Spending time to understand the true needs and wishes of a specific focus group will help you make that group satisfied every time they visit your website. By addressing their needs you’re gaining a loyal fan base, as they understand how important they are for you.

Building trust with your visitors and potential clients is one of the most important aspects of web design, and for that, you need some understanding of psychology. Whether you’re a web designer or a business owner who’s trying to expand their business through the internet, you must understand that a majority of internet users are commonly suspicious about any type of internet offers. That’s why you need to put your visitors at ease using smart approach. Placing and editing your content, language, spacing, and visuals can all play a significant role in building a trusty relationship with your visitors.

How and why to approach the psychology-based design?

You should start thinking about your website like it’s sort of a person on a first date. The first impression you leave is usually the most important one, and your website does that for your business, services or for whatever it represents. With the internet evolving so fast, some things have become standards, and people are quite used to have certain elements done in certain way on almost every website there is. This is why you should focus on familiarity.

When visitors go to your website and they don’t see what they’re used to, they tend to leave and keep looking for someone else. Having your website radically stand out from some of the basic internet principles may seem artistic and original, but it may cause more complications than it would generate traffic. You must make sure that some aspects are always kept intact.

People need to understand the purpose of your website and they need to understand how to navigate it. When it’s clear what’s the purpose of your site, and when it’s clear how your visitors can get the information, service or the product they need, you can use other elements to emphasize that service or the mission behind the site. There are other elements that people find necessary on specific sites, for example – if you’re running an eCommerce site, your visitors expect to find your products on the front page. Most of the users call for any kind of “about” information on your business and website, and there are a lot of people who leave immediately if they see there’s no “search” option on your site.

The psychology in various areas of web design

Certain aspects of every website element can be approached in different ways. It all depends on what you want to achieve. Are you looking for a minimalistic, modern website, or you’re aiming for a more detailed approach with a lot of images and content? Here are some basics you should know about different elements of web design.

• Content – The thing that drives your web design is most definitely content. No wonder there’s a saying – content is king. Addressing that content in such a way, so it suits the needs of your visitors should be one of the most important tasks you have when planning out a website. People like informational and yet, not too long articles that help them understand who you are and what do you want to achieve. If the content is hard to find, or if it’s everywhere, clouding your site, visitors will leave, and your business may suffer. Keep the content relevant and clear and you won’t have any problems.
• Spacing and composition – Organizing a website is extremely important. It affects how your visitors feel, what they think about you and your business, and it’s one of the things that can chase people away, or keep them browsing. One of the things you can do to address this is to consider how to use white space and how to create an eye-catching website using visuals and white space. Using white space and adequate visuals help emphasize the important parts of your website, which helps your visitors understand what they are supposed to do. They will understand that you don’t want to waste their time and that’s where the trust building starts.
• Typography – Another thing that can make or break a website is a choice of fonts and the way the content is presented on your website. With a virtually endless sea of different typefaces, you may get tempted to use a lot of different ones to achieve what you want. This is wrong, as using multiple various fonts may cause unnecessary confusion and keep your visitors away. You should focus on using up to three different fonts on your website altogether, while you also need to keep an eye out for spacing and paragraphs. Go through your website and test it rigorously. Ask for other people’s opinions and keep it simple. This way you will ensure the positive impact on your visitors and customers.

Wrapping It Up

No matter where the future takes us, the internet is becoming more and more important for business all around the world. That’s why you need to focus on a good web design if you want to make a difference. Learning about psychological approaches and about psychology, in general, can really help you boost your traffic and become recognizable on the internet.