If you aren't aware of the design principles, you should absolutely do some research into them. The top digital marketing agencies will all be well-versed in the matter, but it's nice when the client understands them as well. When you are not designing a website for yourself, the design principles are a good way to know a) how knowledgeable the agency is, b) why certain design decisions were made, and c) if third parties without a bias would find them objectively appealing. The widely-accepted fundamental design principles include:

• Contrast: a difference between two or more elements in a composition. Color is hugely important in contrast because colors that are too similar or without enough contrast make it hard to read or identify visuals on a page.
• Emphasis: creating an area of the design that draws attention and creates a focal point. Size, color, shape, and position all affect the success of emphasis.
• Hierarchy: Using different weight and sizes to show which words or elements are most important. Hierarchy is important to help guide the eye. H1 > H2 > H3 > Body Text. The eye will naturally travel to the biggest text/image first, so make sure it's the most important.
• Repetition: Reusing of the same or similar elements throughout your design. Repetition creates a sense of unity and consistency in and across designs. You can show repetition within a single design, as well as between several to create a strong sense of brand.
• Movement: Movement is the principle of good design which gives the artist control over what the viewer sees next. Using this principle, the artist can create the path our eyes will travel by using shapes, colors, gradients, directions, focal points, and more.
• Space: When creating designs, it's important to give all elements adequate space to breathe. Negative space is the lack of content to keep the design open and uncluttered. All elements need appropriate padding to stay legible, and the space between elements should show those that go together versus those that are more unrelated.
• Balance: The way that elements are laid out in a design should be balanced. This makes the brand seem balanced and keeps the design pleasing to the eye. You can balance symmetrically or asymmetrically and it can be very obvious or more subtle.

To learn more about design principles, check out our past blog: Design Principles In Action.

According to Oberlo, 55.56% of all web traffic is from mobile devices in 2021 thus far. That means that over half of the people visiting your website are doing so on their phones or tablets. When building a website, most digital marketing agencies or internal developers will use a computer. Your site might look great on a large screen, but if you're not optimizing its performance for mobile use, you're in trouble. The good news is that most website builder sites automatically do a bulk of the mobile optimization work for you. That being said, certain layouts will never look right on a phone so you should switch between devices throughout the development process. Videos, images, and infographics are especially important to take a look at because they become illegible at smaller scales. Make sure they can be zoomed in on or that they pop out to the full screen if necessary. Your mobile website should have a clear menu that makes navigation easier. Try to avoid putting too much information on each page to reel in the amount of scrolling someone needs to do. Consider adding anchor points that jump directly to important sections when in mobile view. The nicer your digital marketing agency can make your website look on a mobile device, the more traffic you'll get!

• Enable Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) markup
• Choose a Responsive Design Template
• Compress Images/Visuals
• Clean Up The Structure
• Test Usability Frequently Throughout the Process

As any top digital marketing agency will tell you, large chunks of text are never a good thing. Websites are certainly no exception to this rule. Think about your own personal experiences online; do you prefer to read page after page of information, or would you rather take it in through short text, bullet points, infographics, videos, and other visuals? With all the capabilities the internet has, there's really no reason to rely on text. You can create 100% user-friendly websites with interactive segments, scrolling facts and images, and more! Text does not catch the eye like other elements will. That's why it's so critical that the first view of your landing pages jump off the screen and get people's attention. If you do need a lot of text to explain something, make it pop up when prompted or opt for a dropdown. That way, the information is there if needed, but it doesn't sit on the screen and scare people away. The less text you can use the better. Ask the digital marketing agency designing the website to use icons or bulleted lists to replace written words. Ask them to have sections that scroll so that nothing is static and stale. Basically, think about the aspects of websites that you look for, and try to recreate them on your business's site. Of course, make sure the design is reflective of your brand and industry. Healthcare clients should be more modern and clean whereas a children's toy brand can be colorful with whimsical shapes. To make a long story short, if a picture says 1000 words, use more pictures!