Which Website Layout Idea to Go For?

Once you hire a designer, you’re sure that they know for sure which website layout idea is the best match for your project. But in fact, the breadth of choice creates additional dilemmas. So, even an experienced designer may sometimes feel confused about picking the right layout option. Beluga Lab experts have decided to help you out and offer a guide on layout selection.

Why Does Layout Matter?

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of proper layout, as users intuitively search for familiar patterns on all web resources. So, if they don’t find what they need, they easily get confused and lose their way. This affects the product’s UX, making you lose many clients because of the resource’s poor usability.

Besides meeting the visitors’ need to find their way, designers use layouts to render the website’s purpose and content appropriately. If the website layout idea is chosen wrongly, your content may look cluttered and hard to read.

Avoiding all these troubles is possible if you choose the layout correctly. Here are some guiding principles for its selection.

Choosing the Website Layout Idea Step by Step

• Single column layout

This website layout idea is the best option for building responsive web resources that look the same on all kinds of devices. Such resources are highly readable and showcase the imagery favorably. Thus, the design contributes to long reading time and users’ stay on the website.

• Content-focused layout

This variant is ideal for news websites and blogs, as they position the primary content block at the center of the page and place all secondary tabs on the sidebar. The content should also be designed properly to enhance readability; include subheadings, lists, and visuals to hook the visitors’ attention.

• Magazine layout

Magazines and news websites need to post much information and make regular data updates. So, the magazine layout helps prioritize the hottest news while at the same time displaying the rest of the content. Designers should keep in mind, however, that magazine layouts are less responsive.

• Grid breaking layout

An innovative website layout idea is that of a breaking grid. You can experiment with this option and overlay text and images to make the layout unique. But keep in mind that such layouts are less intuitive, and too much experimentation can cause visitor confusion about clickable tabs. Besides, always check that the vital data, such as CTAs and contacts, remains clearly readable, as the data display varies across devices.