Web design is simply the hardest and most complicated phase of web development. That's because the design forms the basis of almost everything the website is about. Nowadays, it's not just about impressing your visitors with cool graphics and animations because as the internet evolves so do the users and their needs.

It's a fact that good design needs to fast, cordial, presentable, able to relay information in the easiest way and so on. That's why you have to spend a lot of time of the design phase in order to ensure you whip up something that will not only positively sell your website to your visitors but also reduce your bounce rate.

You may be wondering, how do you spruce up your web design? Well, there are a couple of things you can do to give your website a professional and appealing look.

Here are 5 tips to help improve your next website's web design:

1) Page Speed

In today's world, very few web users can stomach waiting for a page to load. Why? More and more people are turning to the internet for information. Sometimes, the information they are looking for is fragmented and scattered across the internet.

This means that they may have to visit a number of websites before they can find what they are looking for. Now, if your pages load slowly, there is a high chance that a lot of visitors will get frustrated by this delay and they may opt for other quicker websites that offer the same info. To improve your page speed, you can:

* Minimise HTTP Requests.

* Reduce the amount of graphics on the page.

* Enable compression.

* Optimise your images.

* Enable browser caching.

* Optimise CSS Delivery and so on.

2) White Space

In the past, very few people paid attention to the spaces on a web page. This allows web developers and eCommerce developers to optimise every inch of free space they had by placing ads and banners. Unfortunately, nowadays this can be quite a turnoff for your site's visitors. Most web users enjoy their space.

You should remember that no one wants to spend time and energy trying to find information on a crowded web page. And also, crowded and cramped web pages are bound to raise your bounce rate, and that's definitely not what you want. That's why you need to ensure your pages are well spaced with adequate whitespace. This makes it comfortable and easy for your visitors to get information from your website quickly.

3) Images and Animations

A decade ago, having a carousel, slideshows, animations and flashy graphics was something that many people found fascinating. In fact, this was one of the best ways to ensure users spent more time on your web pages.

Unfortunately, today people spend very little time on a page. This means that they may not stick around long enough to wait for all the items on the carousel to be displayed or they may get distracted by the site's animations or even scared away by the flashy and boring graphics. To the average user, it's all about getting what they are looking for as soon as they land on your page.

Therefore, to build a good reputation with search engines and to ensure that visitors return to your site, you need to make sure they get the information on display in the easiest and most straightforward way. It's true that images say a lot and can be a great way of capturing your audience's attention, but you have to make sure any images you use have been search engine optimised and minimised to lessen their load on the page speed.

4) Simplify Your Navigation

The easier it is for a user to navigate your site in search of information, the higher the chances of them sticking to their search till the end. Your site's navigation is just the same as a road. If it's short and well laid out most people will use it to get to where they are going to, but if it's lengthy and crowded with links and lacking proper signage, most users will abandon the trip midway.

So, when you are coming up with a navigation panel, you should make sure it's simple, straightforward and well labeled so that your visitors – even the less internet savvy - get what they are looking for with ease.

5) Responsive and Mobile Friendly

It's pretty hard to talk about good web design without mentioning responsiveness. As mentioned earlier, these days people access the internet using a variety of devices. And unlike the past, these days most page requests come from mobile devices.

Now, if your website is not responsive, the whole design may not be appealing and comfortable for the mobile visitor.

That's why you need to make sure your new website accommodates all kinds of devices hence giving each and every visitor the best experience. Search engines like Google often reward responsive and mobile-friendly pages with a boost on the SERPs rank thus driving more traffic to those websites.