• Standard: 80% or more of websites use the same design approach
• Convention: 50 – 79% of websites use the same design approach
• Confusion: 49% or fewer websites conform, no single design approach dominates

Practical Insights for Web Designers

Conforming to standards are an easy way to meet the expectations of your audience. Your visitors are not blank slates. Your website is the millionth website they’ve visited, so they come with strong ideas about what they’ll find and where they’ll find it. And the website is key to your digital marketing basics.

Why make your site different?

If a design element is expected in a certain place, then that’s where it should go.

Beyond design elements, there are types of web design standards that all good designers understand:

Brand Standards

Colors, type and tone are specific to every business. You should have a style guide for your website and stick to it.

Coding Standards

Websites should be built using the programming standards agreed upon by the W3C. This makes them more likely to display and behave properly in browsers.

Accessibility Standards

Access to information is a basic human right. This has been recognized by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Follow these standards to make your site accessible to everyone.

Standard web conventions are shorthand for good design. If you break any of these rules, you should do so intentionally and with a very good reason. And you should plan on measuring the impact of being unexpected.

Does your site follow best practices? Or do you break the rules?