WordPress Web Design - 8 Special Features & Tips

1. What Areas are there in WordPress Web Design?
2. The role of plugins in WordPress web design
3. Build WordPress website yourself or hire a freelancer?
4. 9 Tips & Recommendations for WordPress Web Design
5. The Advantages of Using a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress
6. Conclusie

WordPress web design is becoming increasingly popular. And rightly so: You can simply choose a suitable WordPress hosting provider and then start designing your website. With its extensive range of functions and user-friendly interface, the Content Management System WordPress also offers a good basis for beginners to develop a high-quality website.

Our guest author Christoph Lindhauer explains in this article what areas exist in WordPress web design and what special features you should pay attention to. You will also receive some WordPress tips that you can use to make your website even higher quality and maintainable.

What Areas are there in WordPress Web Design?

The most important areas in WordPress web design are the colors used, the fonts, and other design elements that appear repeatedly on the website.

It is important that you choose a design style that suits the industry in which your company operates. Also, special features of your products or services should be incorporated into the design from the start so that your visitors recognize what you stand for when they visit your website.

Individual areas of web design that you should pay attention to in WordPress are:

The colors - Choose a suitable color scheme

Example of a color scheme

Often, a company already has a corporate design that was used on various print media before the website was created. It makes sense to also design the website in the corporate design style of the company to strengthen brand recognition.

The most important design elements are defined in the corporate design. Fonts, colors, distances and design elements. In terms of colors, it makes sense to choose a suitable color scheme.

A color scheme is a combination of colors that complement each other well. The colors specified in the color scheme also have different functions. Initially, the background and font color are defined. Usually, there are defined colors for both light sections and dark sections of the website. In addition, one to two accent colors are often defined, which are used sporadically in certain places to highlight certain design elements, such as buttons.

Fonts - Use fonts that match the topic

You should also choose fonts (also called fonts in professional jargon) that suit you and your particular topic. It's important not to use too many different fonts on a website, as this can dilute hierarchies on the page. Also, it creates a chaotic impression.

Ideas Font Pairings

It's best to use only one or two fonts. If you choose the option with two fonts, make sure not only that the fonts match the theme, but also each other. You can find numerous font pairs, i.e. combinations of well-matching fonts, through a simple search on Google.

Structure

Sitemap Structures

Every website, including one designed with WordPress, must have a clear structure that allows visitors to find their way around immediately. You should always keep in mind what the intention of your website is. The easier you make it for users to achieve their goals, the more likely they are to stay on your website and not bounce away.

When arranging elements, it is advisable not to develop a special solution. Stay clear and solution-oriented. With extravagant websites and arrangements of elements, it can quickly happen that visitors to your website get lost and need too much time to find what they are looking for. For example, the menu should always be visible at the top and contain links to the most important elements and subpages.

Content

Main content refers to the main content on a page, i.e. without the menu at the top and the further links in the bottom part of the website, the footer. On most subpages of a website, the content consists of text, which is lightened up with media such as images, graphics and videos.

The content is essential for visitors and the ranking of a website. To be found by Google for your services and products, it is advisable to optimize subpages for search terms that your customers are looking for.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy is one of the most important design principles. By establishing a clear hierarchy, you ensure that the website appears tidy and that the visitors' eyes are immediately drawn to the particularly important things. Hierarchy in content arises, for example, from bold paragraphs, headings and subheadings, as well as sections highlighted with a different background color.

Whitespace also plays an important role in establishing a hierarchy. Whitespace refers to the gaps between the design elements of a website.

It is important that the design principle of continuity is applied to whitespace, as with all other aspects of web design.

Continuity: Define design elements and reuse them

Continuity means that fonts, colors, distances and other design elements are defined once and then used again and again. This ensures that the website appears as if from a single mold. In addition, it automatically prevents you from switching between different styles. The latter should be avoided as a beginner, as the common thread of a website can easily be lost.

Clear menu structure - Short distances

As already described, it makes sense for the menu to appear at the top of the website. Your visitors are usually familiar with this from other websites and will expect it from yours as well. For the menu to be easily readable, the contrast between the font and the chosen background must be sufficiently high. You should also not place too many links in the menu that are visible at first glance, as this will make the navigation unclear. Five to six links in the main menu are recommended for standard company websites.

The most important sub-pages of your website should be directly accessible in the menu. This creates short paths and enables users to quickly get the information they were looking for.

Use WordPress theme

When web designing with WordPress you don't have to start from scratch when creating a website. For many years now, there have been so-called WordPress themes. In principle, a WordPress theme is a fully completed website with many different sections, where you just need to replace pictures and texts. You can add or remove predefined sections as you see fit.

One of the largest markets for WordPress themes

You don't necessarily have to spend money on a WordPress theme. Often, the concept is that the lite version of a theme is free and does not have the full functionality of the paid version. If you decide on the free option, you should definitely do some research beforehand to see whether this version of the theme covers all the aspects you need.

Use WordPress builder 

The most popular WordPress builder is Elementor

The design possibilities with WordPress are quite fixed with a theme. If you want more design freedom, you can choose to use a WordPress builder like Elementor. WordPress builders are widely used, but usually not as beginner-friendly as ready-made themes, since many things have to be designed themselves with a WordPress builder.

If you use a popular builder like Elementor, you benefit from a large community that has formed around him over the years. For this reason, most problems with you will not occur for the first time, but have already been solved by others. That's why you'll probably find an answer to almost any question you have about the big builders on Google.

Modern WordPress web design is responsive 

Whether you use a WordPress theme or a WordPress builder, your website should be responsive in any case. This means that it automatically adapts to different screen sizes. This is important for the visitors on your website, as well as for the ranking in the search engines.

More about Responsive Web Design can be found here: Responsive Web Design 

The role of plugins in WordPress web design

WordPress plugins are extensions for WordPress. They allow you to add functions that WordPress wouldn't have without the plugin. The market for WordPress plugins is huge.

Different types of plugins were developed, some help to better integrate search engine optimization into the page, others help to make the WordPress website faster. Others add different functions in the block area, such as a reading time.

Many plugins already offer a large range of functions in the free version. So take a look around and compare different options on the market first, to not accidentally spend money on something that already exists in a free version.

Build WordPress website yourself or hire a freelancer?

Whether you can simply build a WordPress website yourself or should hire a freelancer or an agency depends on the personal circumstances. If you have been able to get into different programs quite well in the past, WordPress probably won't be a problem for you.

However, there is a big difference between a layman's website and a professionally created one. When it comes to creating a website for a company, it is advisable to hire a professional, as he or she will think about important aspects that can easily be overlooked. In addition, you will receive a high-quality end result from high-quality agencies.

However, if you have little budget but time yourself, you can try it yourself first. In doing so, you should offset the time you spend creating the website with other work that you could do in the same time. .

If you have never developed a website before, it is highly recommended that you schedule a good time buffer and a Plan B in case you do not finish within the timeframe you set for the project.

Pros and Cons of hiring a freelancer

Pros

• Less time needed
• Usually several revisions
• Many services available such as creation of print media & logos
• Setting up e-mail accounts
• Setting up website hosting
• Professional consulting
• Professional result

Cons

• Higher costs
• Risk of hiring the* wrong one
• Less development of your own skills

Pros and cons of building the WordPress website yourself

Pros

• You learn to use WordPress
• You are familiar with your website and can change simple elements
• You save costs for web designers
• No risk of throwing your money down the drain with the wrong freelancer

Contras

• Large time consumption
• Quality of the end result questionable

9 Tips & Recommendations for WordPress Web Design

Here are some tips that you should discuss with your web designers and that are helpful for you if you design your WordPress websites yourself.

1. Let yourself be inspired by other high-quality websites

Why start from scratch with WordPress web design? In order to get a feel for what other websites in the industry look like, you should first look at your competitors' websites and analyze them in detail to find out which elements have been placed where. It's not uncommon for you to come up with ideas that you can incorporate into the design of the website that you wouldn't have come up with without looking at the competition.

We've also found some website design inspirations for you, which can help you with your design.

2. Use fewer plugins

One of the most important WordPress tips is to use fewer plugins. The more plugins you use, the higher the risk of interactions between different plugins. In addition, maintaining the website becomes more difficult.

3. Make regular backups

You should definitely make regular backups of your WordPress website to prevent data loss. It can never fully be ruled out that a website suddenly stops working for unexplained reasons. If you don't have a backup of the website at this point, great economic damage can occur.

You can find a list of the best WordPress Backup Plugins here.

4. Legally impeccable imprint and data protection declaration

The legal basis for imprint and privacy statements change so fast that you should always be up to date to keep the risk of a warning as low as possible. So always ensure that your WordPress website has a flawless imprint & a current privacy policy that meets all requirements.

5. Don't forget the cookie banner!

If you integrate programs from third parties into your website, e.g. because you want Google to show your location in Google Maps on the WordPress website, you should check whether your website sets cookies. If it does, it is important that you integrate a functional cookie banner into your website. This pops up when you open the website and allows visitors to disable or accept cookies.

Disabling cookies usually results in the integrated programs that were supposed to set the cookies not working. If the cookie banner does not work legally, you also risk a warning.

Here you will find a compilation of the best WordPress-Cookie-Plugins.

6. Do not update immediately when an update has just been released

When a new update is available, you should first make a backup before activating it. It is also advisable not to install the update directly, but to wait a few days. If you don't hear anything in these days about problems with the new update, you can generally install it without worrying too much.

7. Include search engine optimization (SEO) in the website creation

When building a WordPress website, you should consider search engine optimization (SEO) right from the start. A search engine-optimized website is designed as search engines like Google wish. If you achieve the balance between optimizing for the user and optimizing for the search engine, you will continuously increase the number of visitors to your website over time.

Here you can find out what you should pay attention to in WordPress SEO.

8. A 404 page created in corporate design increases seriousness

Every serious website should also have a 404 page that appears whenever a visitor enters a URL that doesn't exist on your website. Usually, the start page is linked on the 404 page and it is indicated that the page doesn't exist or an error has occurred.

Here you can find out how to create a 404 page.

9. Modern websites are barrier-free

Modern websites are barrier-free. This means that they can also be used by people with limitations. For blind people, for example, the alt texts of images are very important. If the content of a website is read aloud, this alt text is read instead of the image.

Here you'll find additional information about accessible web design.

The Advantages of Using a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress

Using a CMS like WordPress has great advantages. For one thing, there are many prefab elements, so you don't have to start from scratch. Among other things, you can create many elements without having to change the code. Also, maintaining your website is much easier if you use a CMS.

You can find more interesting information about Content Management Systems on OMR Reviews. We have also put together a few more tools for you:

Joomla

TYPO3

Drupal

HubSpot ContentHub

Contentful

Optimizely CMS

Aside from a Content Management System there are also many other programs that can help you work more effectively. On OMR Reviews, you'll find over 30,000 in-depth reviews of more than 3,000 tools in 130 software categories.

Conclusie

WordPress web design is recommended for beginners and advanced users alike, as the entry barrier is not particularly high and yet there is plenty of room for design. However, if you have no prior experience in website development, it is advisable to hire an agency for a professional company website to ensure a good result within a clearly defined time.