Today’s common devices include mobiles, tablets, laptops, and desktops. They come in a range of screen sizes which can affect how a webpage is viewed. An external monitor offers more horizontal space, which needs to be considered when designing web pages. Mobile devices have much less room for the same area of content, for example, a menu is minimized in mobile devices and can be opened/closed with the touch of a trigger icon. The website text should be dynamic and adjust in size relative to the screen size. Spacing between elements might also need custom adjustment to align with each screen size.
Aside from screen sizes, the user experience relies on browser app capability, and in recent years cross-compatibility has improved across browser software. This is also a result of fewer browser options, being around longer, and of course, much more money is spent on browser maintenance.
This whole concept is referred to as responsive design. People say mobile-friendly, but it might be safe to call it the other way around, that a website is desktop-friendly. 😊 Whichever way you want to phrase it, responsive design refers to a website’s ability to adapt to the user’s selected view size, device, and app to view your website. It is best to test each screen size setting by simulating what visitors see and optimize as needed.
I’ll start by saying that a webpage theme should match your overall website theme. A landing page or a page where you’re testing a new layout are the only two instances where you might need to use a different layout or theme.
Under normal circumstances, the purpose of a theme is to first identify your business site. You set the mood and expectations for your visitors as soon as they reach your website. If what they see does not match on another webpage, they may be confused or lose interest in your site. It takes extra effort to make sure everything matches in a certain way because you’re limiting design and color options. This is more challenging but also rewarding! People like patterns and order; a theme helps you create an order and adds structure to your site.
A theme should include a few elements that can be reused throughout the site’s structure. Colors should coordinate with all graphics and even images. An image filter might be needed for more complex graphics or images since outside elements displayed within your pages may not blend in by default.
Creating something new is exciting. Publishing a website or a webpage is like performing on stage when you have an opening night!
We have talked about browser cross-compatibility improving every year, which allows for more enhanced effect integration. While these fancy effects may impress some visitors, they may annoy or confuse others, and could also use up more resources. Think of smartphones; they are more powerful than ever, yet they can still suffer from lag. Likewise, a more complicated website will use more resources and function slower. However, this does not mean you should strip the site down to bare bones and end up with static web pages. In fact, do the opposite and take advantage of new technologies to ensure a faster surfing experience and still impress your site visitors.
Another reason to keep things simple is for AI and voice recognition software. Smartphones are installed with virtual assistants that search the web for the most relevant, easy-to-read results when looking for an answer to a request/question from the phone user.