8 CONSISTENT WEB DESIGN They say that “familiarity breeds contempt”, but we are going to show how consistency and familiarity will lead to your website enjoying increased visitors, more page views and more sales.
or different color- schemes, furnishings or floor layouts. This would not lend itself to building brand identity or loyalty - and the same can be said about a lack of consistency in your website's design. A REAL-WORLD ANALOGY Analogies between the real world and websites are rarely useful, but in making the case for consistency in website design value can be gained from comparing, as an example, an ecommerce website with a “bricks and mortar” chain of stores. For the purposes of this article, the term “website design” refers to the branding and layout of pages of your website. the importance of consistency in website design Page 2 of 8
of branding consistency immediately portrays your organization as being unprofessional. Consistent branding creates a unified feel, which not only tells your visitors that they are still browsing your website, but also re-enforces your brand identity by repeatedly exposing your visitors to it. BRANDING CONSISTENCY Your website design should emulate your organization's existing branding guidelines, including your logo, color-scheme, spacing between elements on the page, font styles and size, icon style and size, image styles and form styles. the importance of consistency in website design Page 3 of 8
with, then consistency is not going to help. Your website should be organized in a hierarchical structure that provides feedback to the user as to where they are on your website by highlighting their position on your navigation menu, using “breadcrumbs” and changing hyperlink styles or colors for visited links. LAYOUT CONSISTENCY The layout of your website includes the positioning of your text content, headings, images, navigation menus, search box, newsletter sign-up box and other elements. It is important that some of these elements be the same on every page of your website. the importance of consistency in website design Page 4 of 8
themselves with the layout and navigation structure of your website in order to use it - and consistency in your website's navigation structure means that they will have to do this only once. LAYOUT CONSISTENCY If your website's navigation already allows your visitors to quickly find the information they want then you should maintain this ease-of- use throughout your website. the importance of consistency in website design Page 5 of 8
in the layout of the rest of your web pages. For example, it stands to reason that your product pages will have a different layout to your article or “About Us” pages, but be sure to be consistent with the branding of these different layouts. LAYOUT CONSISTENCY Other elements of your website's layout that should be consistent throughout your website include your search box and newsletter sign-up box. the importance of consistency in website design Page 6 of 8
website visitors know that they have not left the website in question and know where they are in the overall website structure. EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE Websites with few pages should usually be consistent throughout. But other websites are so large, and cater to so many interests, that it makes sense to use various layouts across their website. the importance of consistency in website design Page 7 of 8
convert more visitors to leads. But it doesn't end there - a website with consistent design elements will require less time for your website developer, and subsequently save you money. OUR CONCLUSION As we have seen, websites designed with consistent branding and layout will keep their visitors for longer. The business case for consistency in your website's design is clear. the importance of consistency in website design Page 8 of 8