You can know every HTML tag and still build a site nobody enjoys using. Good web design is not about clever code — it is about making a site that people can find their way around, read easily, and use happily on any device. The best sites feel so obvious you never notice the design at all. That is the goal.
Plan first: the wireframe
Before writing any code, good designers sketch a wireframe — a simple boxes-and-labels plan of where things go. It is the architect's blueprint of a web page: no colours or real content, just the arrangement of the header, navigation, main content and footer. Planning on paper first is far cheaper than rebuilding a finished page.
Know your audience and purpose
Every good site starts with two questions: who is it for and what is it for? A site for young children needs big buttons and simple words; a site selling trainers needs clear photos and an easy checkout. Design choices only make sense once you know the audience and the purpose.
Clear navigation and consistent layout
Navigation is how visitors move around. A clear menu, present on every page, lets people reach anything in a click or two — a bit like signposts in a shopping centre. A consistent layout keeps menus, headings and colours in the same place on every page, so once a user learns one page they can use them all without relearning.
Accessibility: build for everyone
Accessibility means designing so that everyone, including people with disabilities, can use the site. Add alt text to images so screen readers can describe them to blind users; use strong colour contrast so text is readable and works for colour-blind visitors; and choose clear, readable fonts at a sensible size. Good accessibility is not an extra — it is part of doing the job properly.
Responsive design
Responsive design means a site automatically re-arranges itself to fit the screen it is on. On a wide desktop it might show two columns side by side; on a narrow phone those columns stack into one so nothing is squashed or cut off. Since most people now browse on phones, a site that only works on desktop is a broken site.
| Principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| Navigation | Clear menu on every page to reach any page fast |
| Consistency | Same layout and style across all pages |
| Accessibility | Alt text, colour contrast, readable fonts for all users |
| Responsive | Adapts to phone, tablet and desktop screens |
Tip: Always test your design on a real phone, not just a big monitor. A layout that looks perfect on a desktop can be unusable on a small screen — and that is where most of your visitors actually are.