Effective web design might be based heavily on a combination of trends, preferences and trial and error, but there are a few basics that any web designer needs to take on board no matter what the brief dictates. So, here are few dos of web design that you need to put at the forefront of your mind:

DO optimise your site for mobile devices. With around 20% of all traffic coming from mobile sources, it’s high time you got things optimised. Responsive or adaptive web designs are the way forward and mean your site can be effectively viewed on different screen sizes, and always make sure to test your site in multiple browsers to ensure you’re offering a great user experience no matter what device is chosen.

DO remember to redirect your URLs when you change them. When you’re going through a re-design it can be easy for forget to 301 redirect your URLs to their new page, not only offering a terrible user experience but being bad for SEO too as the link value isn’t passed to the new structure, so always remember to redirect them properly.

DO get social. Integrating with social media should be a core part of any web design project, thereby boosting marketing and SEO strategies whilst enhancing the user experience at the same time. Users expect to see sharing buttons, Twitter feeds, Facebook integration and other social functions, so for a site (and a business as a whole) to be noticed it’s vital to have these social elements on board.

DO include an email sign-up option on the homepage. Yes, getting those conversions will always be at the forefront of your mind, but sometimes a visitor likes what you’re saying without being quite ready to press the “buy” button just yet. A regular marketing email can therefore be ideal—it keeps them in touch and puts you at the forefront of their mind, so make sure to put a sign-up form on your homepage to boost potential sales later down the line.

These are just a few basic points you need to remember when designing your new site, and stay tuned later in the week for some web design don’ts to get the full overview…