{"id":2385,"date":"2013-11-03T13:35:42","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T17:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/?p=2385"},"modified":"2025-07-01T10:48:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T15:48:45","slug":"great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html","title":{"rendered":"Great website design starts with knowing what you want \u2013 and exactly what you need"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We need really great website design. Our current site is not working to grow our business. I expect you to increase traffic to our site so our sales go up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Clients often start the initial meeting with their search engine marketing (SEM) company with this statement, or at least something similar.<\/p>\n<h2>Houston, we have a problem.<\/h2>\n<p>The client only knows that their site is not driving business. They want a new website or a redesign, but are clueless to what they want or actually need. They try to express their ideas, but something is lost in translation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That\u2019s not what I want\/had in mind\/will work.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Little do the clients know they understand more than what is told to their new SEM company. There\u2019s valuable industry and customer awareness the client must clearly communicate to the web designer. The client holds the key to site design that will work for them, the visitor, and ultimately drive their business.<\/p>\n<h2>So just what is great website design?<\/h2>\n<p>Have you visited a website, but were gone in 10 seconds? You thought why waste your time trying to find what you wanted or the information you needed.<\/p>\n<p>The truth is, there are as many definitions of &#8220;great website design&#8221; as there are clients. Sites should engage the visitor, enticing exploration. They should pique interest.<\/p>\n<p>Outstanding sites keep you hanging around awhile, sometimes for hours, exploring what the company has to offer. You\u2019ve probably noticed these sites contain the same elements.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say that they are clones. Rather, the really good websites use identical design elements with an original twist, a bold attitude of the company they represent.<\/p>\n<h2>Great website design starts with visitor centricity<\/h2>\n<p>Sites that keep visitors ecstatically clicking away, generating the most leads (and sales), focus on the end user. The client might have a vision of what is logical and appealing to him or her, but the design end result does not have the same effect on the visitor.<\/p>\n<p>The 3 common elements of great website designs are<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Visitor centricity<\/li>\n<li>Visualization<\/li>\n<li>Adherence SEO standards<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If the audience is in the middle of things (visitor centricity), the site\u2019s design flows freely into the other elements. Getting the site to easily move from the visitor to the way the site looks and feels, and ultimately to the words used on each page requires a deep understanding of the people that will be looking for the site.<\/p>\n<p>Great website design is easily accomplished if you start with the visitor and go from there. You may not need a whole new website, just a few tweaks here and there to get customers and potential customers loving your site and buying your products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We need really great website design. Our current site is not working to grow our business. I expect you to increase traffic to our site so our sales go up.&#8221; Clients often start the initial meeting with their search engine marketing (SEM) company with this statement, or at least something similar. Houston, we have a problem. The client only knows that their site is not driving business. They want a new website or a redesign, but are clueless to what they want or actually need. They try to express their ideas, but something is lost in translation. &#8220;That\u2019s not what I want\/had in mind\/will work.&#8221; Little do the clients know they understand more than what is told to their new SEM company. There\u2019s valuable industry and customer awareness the client must clearly communicate to the web designer. The client holds the key to site design that will work for them, the visitor, and ultimately drive their business. So just what is great website design? Have you visited a website, but were gone in 10 seconds? You thought why waste your time trying to find what you wanted or the information you needed. The truth is, there are as many definitions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[495],"tags":[917,903,243,915],"class_list":["post-2385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-website-development-design","tag-essential-website-design-elements","tag-user-friendly-website-design","tag-website-design","tag-website-design-best-practices"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>3 Common Elements for Great Website Design Success<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn the 3 key elements that form the foundation of great website design, ensuring a user-friendly, visually appealing, and functional site.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Common Elements for Great Website Design Success\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn the 3 key elements that form the foundation of great website design, ensuring a user-friendly, visually appealing, and functional site.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Search Engine Marketing &amp; Optimization Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-03T17:35:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-01T15:48:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Custom-web-design-vs-template-web-design-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1223\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip O&#039;Hara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip O&#039;Hara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Philip O'Hara\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2c12d79fe6de0228be0c8b1a5f638e8\"},\"headline\":\"Great website design starts with knowing what you want \u2013 and exactly what you need\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-03T17:35:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-01T15:48:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html\"},\"wordCount\":467,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Custom-web-design-vs-template-web-design-scaled-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"essential website design elements\",\"User-Friendly Website Design\",\"website design\",\"website design best practices\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Website Design | Website Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html\",\"name\":\"3 Common Elements for Great Website Design Success\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Custom-web-design-vs-template-web-design-scaled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-03T17:35:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-01T15:48:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2c12d79fe6de0228be0c8b1a5f638e8\"},\"description\":\"Learn the 3 key elements that form the foundation of great website design, ensuring a user-friendly, visually appealing, and functional site.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Custom-web-design-vs-template-web-design-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Custom-web-design-vs-template-web-design-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2100,\"height\":1223},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/great-website-design-starts-with-3-common-elements.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Great website design starts with knowing what you want \u2013 and exactly what you need\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.directoryone.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Search Engine Marketing &amp; 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