For a Perfect Web Design Example: Look at the Hand and Wrist Institute Website
What are the best, most important design features to build into a website? Here we will examine the Hand and Wrist Institute website, a well-constructed and well-designed example of how this should be done. It has all of the features that should be on a properly-designed site. For discerning designers, visitors and search engine spiders, the Hand and Wrist Institute website is essentially perfect.
A Pristine Home Page
The Hand and Wrist Institute’s home page demonstrates the best of both worlds: simplicity and beauty. A design need not be complicated in order to be attractive and eye-catching.
A sky blue banner graces the top along with a well-contrasted navy blue and white logo. The company logo alternates between two colors that contrast well with the background, and the alternating itself wins the immediate attention of visitors.
The large-but-not-too-large logo is neatly positioned on the upper left, resting on the body of the main page body which features a standard professional white background and black text. On the right, a pair of well-aligned logos indicates that the site is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and D.I.S.C. Sports and Spine Center, plus two valid phone numbers for the Institute below that.
Near the bottom right of the home page, the sense of credibility that the company’s brand exudes is reinforced by today’s top media mentions via official logos from CNN, ABC’s Good Morning America, The Washington Post and Sherdog Training. The latter logo is also a button/link which leads visitors to another site run by Dr. Knight and his staff.
Excellent Navigation Elements
Each page of the site can be reached at any time with the clearly-labeled tabs near the top of each page. The current page selected is noted by a white tab with blue background. The opposite is true for non-current pages. This makes it easy to keep track of where you are on the site without the need to look at the web address.
To make it even clearer what page you’re on, each page has a very large bolded heading. This is good for the visitors and is also a factor that may be considered (among many other factors) by search engines’ algorithms to determine whether your site is relevant and valuable to display in their top results.
“Scan-able” Content
One of the primary features visitors and search engines look for in a website is any element that makes the site more scan-able. That is, anything that makes it quick and easy to glance around and get the desired information.
Sites that are properly designed in this sense will have:
- Short, Logical Paragraphs
- Bolded Sub-Headings to Introduce Each Section of the Page
- Contrasting Colors for Certain Elements or Sub-Headings
- Black Text (NOT grey or other strange colors) for the Majority of Each Page’s Body Text
- Lines Occasionally Dividing Sections of the Page
- Beautiful Buttons for Links with Text in a Color that Contrasts with the Buttons’ Color
- Modern 3D-esque Digital Clip Art on Buttons or Other Areas in Extreme Moderation
- Logos for Social Media Connections with a Bold “Follow Us” Heading Above Them
The Hand and Wrist Institute is successful in literally 100% of these ways, on the home page as well as on other pages throughout the site. The reason “scan-able” content is so important is because it makes a website with a lot of verbiage on it appear to be more streamlined and petite. Large-looking clustered designs tend to make a visitor turn away – a predicament known as an increased Bounce Rate (BR).
Other Features Making the Site Practically Useful and “Conversion Friendly”
The Hand and Wrist Institute website is very useful in a practical sense and also draws you in as a visitor. The reason it is practically useful is because it includes a Contact Us page, web forms and a search box. This provides users with ample methods to get in touch which leads to an increased Click Through Rate (CTR) and a better Conversion Rate (CR).
The site is also just conversion-friendly in general, in many ways. An embedded video is featured on all pages of the site where the doctor gives a sense of human interaction. This is quite significant as it removes some of the clinical nature inherent to an online visit.
In addition to being informative, there are also many benefit-driven statements that tout the virtues of doing business with the company. Call-To-Action (CTA) elements are sprinkled throughout, with prominent buttons and bolded headings to make them easy to find. Those include things like “Ask the Doctor,” “Where Does It Hurt,” “Schedule an Appointment,” “Medical Second Opinion,” etc.