The days when just knowing how to code was enough for a web designer. As a matter of fact, in today's digital world, design is just as important as function and whether a website is a success or a failure can depend on how it looks and how easy it is to use. Your goal as a web developer/designer is to create a website that is visually appealing, easy to use, and at the same time reflective of your client's brand.

It can be challenging to keep up with the most recent design trends in today's fast-paced world of the Internet. That's why I've compiled this list of 5 web design tips to help you create a profesional and visually appealing website in 2023. These tips, while being intuitive and simple, can set you apart from the competition and provide a top-notch experience for your users.

Before we move on, remember you can build your websites, landing pages, APIs, and more, with or without coding on DoTenX for free. Make sure to check it out and use it to your advantage. DoTenX is open-source and you can find the repository here: github.com/dotenx/dotenx.

Less is more

When it comes to web design, less is often more. A clean, minimalist design can help keep your website looking modern and uncluttered, making it easier to convey the message and at the same time easier for the users to find what they're looking for. Try keeping the design simple by avoiding using too many colours, fonts, or design elements, and instead focus on creating a simple and cohesive look.

Let's take a look at BOBBY BROWN's website as an example.

Being a makeup brand with large inventory, you might be tempted to showcase all the items and flood the user with all the discounts and offers on every single page, but this brand takes a very different approach.

A minimal set of colours shown to the user at each time, well-defined texts, and clear call to actions make navigating this website a fantastic experience.

Don't skimp on images - use top-quality visuals

While it may seem obvious, many websites fail to use high quality visuals. Images are a crucial part of web design, and using high-quality images can make a big difference in the overall look and feel of your website and by high-quality, I don't mean just hight-resolution.

Invest in professional stock photos or hire a photographer to take custom images for you. This will help ensure that your website looks polished and professional.

Remember you're under pressure to lower the resolution of the images to increase the load speed of your websites, so try to use image formats and compressions that provide the best result for that particular image. To find the best balance, experiment with different image formats and compressions to find the option that provides the best quality while also minimizing file size. Sometimes, it is jpg that gives you the best quality and sometimes it png, webp or other formats. It's important to approach each decision on a case-by-case basis.

For example, consider this image on Apple's website. Despite being only 84KB, the image perfectly showcases the phone from various angles. The white background not only helps focus attention on the phone itself, but it also helps keep the file size small while maintaining good image quality.

Choose a colour scheme wisely

Colour has a significant impact on the look and feel of the website and the overall user experience. Make sure to choose the colour scheme carefully and from the beginning of your implementation, plan to make it easy to try different colours on the final design without needing to change the styles everywhere by using variables for colours and themes.

You can use a tool like Adobe Color, or a website like Coolors to help you find the perfect colour palette. Just keep in mind that it's generally best to stick to a maximum of 3-4 main colours, with a few accent colours as needed.

Take a look at this article for some ideas about the colour schemes you can use for your websites:

Top 7 Colour Schemes that Will Make Your Website Stand Out in 2023

Make use of white space

White space, also known as negative space, refers to the empty areas around and between elements on your website.

Proper use of white space can help give your website a clean, modern look and make it easier for visitors to focus on the content. Leave some breathing room in your design to create a clean and uncluttered look.

White space around text, images and other elements can also improve the readability of the content too. Remember the users skim through your content they don't read it.

Let's take a look at 23andMe's website as an example.

As you navigate through this website, you get the feeling that the designer is dictating where to go next and what to look at, and it's all thanks to the careful use of white space.

Make it easy to navigate

A confusing or hard-to-use website is a massive turn-off for visitors. Make sure your website is easy to navigate to avoid frustrating users, leading to low engagement and/or a high bounce rate.

From a luxury brand to an e-commerce platform, you can make it easier for users to navigate your website by using clear and intuitive headings, having a clear hierarchy of information, using descriptive and relevant page titles, and creating a simple and intuitive menu structure.

Let's take a look at Amazon's website as an example.

It's unbelievable how the designers at Amazon have been able to come up with such a user-friendly navigation system for an e-commerce platform with such a huge inventory. Amazon is the master of creating a hierarchy of information and providing you with options based on where you are in your user journey. Amazon serves as a prime example of how to effectively guide users through a large and complex website.