12 Essential Website Layouts to increase Engagement in 2023
By Somosree Roy, Community Contributor - April 28, 2023
Website layout – an essential element for any website, which is crucial not just for the website’s appearance but also for its functionality. More so, the user experience is highly guided by this layout design. The front-end website layout determines the company’s popularity with its audience.
Trust that an engaging layout website can make a magnanimous difference to a company’s credibility. It can decide how friendly the company is to its users, not in terms of navigation but also catering to their convenience.
Table of Contents
What is a Website Layout?
The layout of a site describes its overall visual presentation to the user. It includes everything from the site’s aesthetics & content structure to its usability and navigation. Users will have a much better time and be more likely to locate what they’re looking for on your site if it’s laid up well.
Importance of Website Layouts
The website layout is the arrangement of its various elements, including text, images, videos, and navigational tools. Attractive graphics, straightforward navigation, & user-friendly features are the hallmarks of a professionally designed website.
- Sites catering to different demographics or interests may have vastly different layouts. For example, a blog’s header, sidebars, & primary content section can make up its basic layout.
- Yet, a more complex e-commerce site may include several categories, sub-categories, and product pages, all with a unique layout.
- Some websites can be single-page menu-based, while the business might need a multi-page responsive website layout where you connect different menus across pages.
The use of responsive design in website development has grown in prominence in recent years. This necessitates the creation of website designs that are compatible with a wide range of screen sizes & devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and desktop PCs.
Building a responsive site guarantees visitors to visit and navigate on any device. However, testers got to test website responsiveness across various screen sizes for user enhancement.
Top 12 Website Layout Ideas to Increase Engagement
“How to make a website layout good?” is a simple yet loaded question for brands to ponder upon. Still, it heavily relies upon an answer to an online brand’s persona and offerings.
To answer your question, here are the industry standards to consider when designing a website:
- To make the best of your website, you should establish its purpose.
- Make sure the color scheme & font you pick are both readable and in keeping with your brand’s aesthetic.
- Create descriptive titles, then divide your information into logical sections.
- Make your website mobile-friendly & responsive by using photos & graphics to improve the reading experience.
- Put your website’s design through a user test and utilize the results to make adjustments.
Considering the standard parameters, here are 12 website layouts your design and development teams can count on
1. The Zig-Zag Layout
The material in this design is laid out in a zigzag pattern that directs the user’s gaze diagonally across the screen. It’s especially useful for storytelling websites or those with lots of graphic content. This creates a dynamic visual effect that draws the user’s attention and encourages them to explore the website.
One of the advantages of the Zig-Zag layout is that it can be used to break up long pages of content into more manageable sections. By organizing the content in a diagonal pattern, the user can easily see where one section ends and another begins, making it easier to navigate the website.
BBC News is a worthwhile example.
2. The F Layout Website
This design follows the “F” pattern most frequently seen in eye-tracking surveys of web users. News sites, blogs, and online shops benefit from their use because of the volume of text they produce. These websites can communicate their message effectively and engage users by placing important information in key page areas.
In the F Layout, the most critical information is placed at the top-left of the page, where users are most likely to look first. As users scroll down the page, their attention shifts to the left side, creating a vertical stripe of content.
Airbnb & Amazon are just a few websites that fit this description.
3. Full-Screen Photo Layout
Full-screen, high-resolution photos are used for emphasis in this design. Websites devoted to photography, style, or lifestyle utilize this template.
Apple uses a clean, minimalist website layout emphasizing its products and brand. Large images, simple typography, and plenty of white space characterize the layout to showcase its products and create an immersive experience for the user.
Overall, Apple’s website layout reflects their brand and design philosophy, emphasizing simplicity, elegance, and user experience.
4. Grid Layout Website
This design arranges elements in a uniform or varied box-size grid. It’s especially useful for sites with many images, like portfolios and galleries.
Pinterest is a prime example of the grid layout website
The Grid Layout system is based on a series of columns and rows that can be customized to create a variety of layouts. These layouts can be adjusted to fit different screen sizes, making them responsive and accessible on a wide range of devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
5. Featured Image Layout
The layout primarily emphasizes the big, bold images. It is popular for online stores and other sites centered on selling goods. The Nike and Slack websites are again two good examples of this.
The Featured Image Layout grabs the user’s attention and creates an immersive experience. The large image at the top of the page serves as a focal point, drawing the user’s eye and setting the tone for the rest of the content on page
6. Asymmetrical Layout Website
This design takes advantage of content placement that is not uniform to produce a striking visual effect. This layout is often used for websites that want to break away from traditional grid-based designs and create a sense of creativity and movement.
The irregular grid creates a sense of movement and draws the user’s eye to different parts of the page. This layout can highlight specific elements or create a sense of depth and complexity.
A popular example includes Colossal
7. Box-based Layout Website
This layout is structured and dynamic, as the content is organized into boxes of varying sizes and shapes. It is an excellent choice for online portfolios or galleries. Websites like Behance and Casetify are great examples.
8. Cards Layout Website
Little, standalone “cards” stand in for many forms of information in this design, such as news or products. It’s a common choice for websites with plenty of content or online shopping. The Instagram and Etsy websites are two such examples.
The Cards Layout is a versatile design choice that can be used for various website types, including social media platforms, e-commerce sites, and content-driven websites. It is particularly useful for websites that need to display a large amount of content in a way that is easy to navigate and visually appealing.
9. Magazine Layout Website
The typeface, layout, & editorial content of traditional print magazines inspired this design. It’s perfect for media outlets, personal blogs, and lifestyle blogs. Websites like Wired is a prime example.
10. Split Screen Layout
This structure splits the screen into multiple pieces, each displaying a unique type of content. It is useful for sites that have conflicting information or messages. Websites like Squarespace are noteworthy instances.
On the Squarespace website, the left side of the screen is used to display a large image, while the right side is used to provide information about the company’s services.
11. One-Page Layout Website
Using this design, a website’s whole content can fit on a single page, and users can navigate between sections by scrolling or clicking on links. This method is ideal for websites with a simple structure and obvious content hierarchy. See this in action on specific Apple product pages.
12. Minimalist Layout
The designers of this layout paid close attention to white space, text, and color. It works particularly well for business websites that have a distinct objective & sense of style. Apple and Dropbox are two instances of this type of illustration.
The overall effect would be a clean, uncluttered design that is easy to navigate and visually appealing. By focusing on typography, negative space, and a limited color palette, this minimalist layout website would create a sense of calm and simplicity.
Best Practices for Choosing a Website Layout
Here are some best practices for choosing a website layout in 2023:
- Consider your website’s purpose and audience: Your website’s purpose and target audience should inform your choice of website layout.
- Prioritize mobile responsiveness: With more and more users accessing websites on their mobile devices, it is essential to choose a mobile-responsive layout. The website will adjust to fit different screen sizes, making it easy to use and navigate on any device.
- Keep it simple: A simple and user-friendly website layout is essential for creating a positive user experience. Avoid cluttered or confusing layouts that make it difficult for users to find what they want.
- Consider usability and accessibility: Usability and accessibility are key considerations when choosing a website layout. Ensure the layout is easy to navigate, with clear labels and intuitive controls. Also, ensure the layout is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, using appropriate color contrast, font sizes, and other accessibility features.
- Test and iterate: Finally, it’s essential to test your chosen layout and make adjustments as needed. Conduct user testing to get feedback on the layout’s usability and effectiveness and make iterative changes based on user feedback.
How to Test Your Website Layout?
After you have decided on the layout of your website, it is essential to put it through extensive testing across different browsers. BrowserStack lets you efficiently test it across various browsing engines before you roll it out in the market.
1. Front-end testing
Verifying that the website’s layout is user-friendly & aesthetically beautiful requires rigorous front-end testing in addition to the mockup UI/UX. This entails checking the layout to ensure it’s pleasant to read, easy to navigate and gives a good experience for the user.
2. Test the website on Different Screen resolutions
It is crucial to test your website’s style using a range of screens throughout to guarantee that it is usable & accessible for all people, regardless of the device they are utilizing or the screen size they are viewing.
3. Test the website for mobile-friendliness
It is vital to guarantee that the website layout is compatible with mobile devices as the percentage of consumers accessing websites from their mobile devices continues to rise.
4. Test cross-browser compatibility
This guarantees it will display appropriately on all browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. The website’s layout must be tested to determine whether it is compatible with different device-browser-OS combinations.
Wrapping up
Getting the design of your website just right is essential if you want to attract and keep your target audience. Following these guidelines will give you an advantage in designing a website that attracts visitors, keeps them on the page, and ultimately leads to more business.
Remember that the design needs to be tested extensively on both desktop and mobile platforms to ensure the best possible functionality & user experience.
FAQs
What are the 4 basic layout types?
Web designers often employ one of four primary layout types:
- One is the single-column design, which works well for blogs and individual homepages where text is the main focus.
- The second is the two-column design, typical of online newspapers and shops.
- The third format is the three-column design on news sites and digital periodicals.
- The grid layout, our number four choice, works particularly well for portfolio and e-commerce sites with visual material.
How do I use HTML to design a website layout?
- Familiarity with HTML and CSS is necessary for creating a site layout. The first stage is making the HTML framework for the website’s header, highlighted area, sidebars, and footer. Afterward, you may adjust the size, placement, & color of each component in the layout with CSS.
- CSS media queries to adapt the layout for various screen sizes are essential for making a website mobile-friendly and responsive.
Was this post useful?
We're sorry to hear that. Please share your feedback so we can do better
Thanks a lot for your feedback!
