Ever heard of visual hierarchy? You probably haven’t, even though it’s one of the most important elements when designing a website.  When designing a website, the primary goal is to prioritize the content that users see and ensure that the images or words direct them to where you want them to go; this is known as visual hierarchy.

Visual hierarchy is used to organize contentin a certain order on a webpage.  This allows the business to promote specific content and improve a user’s overall experience when visiting a site. Sounds easy, but it’s more challenging than it sounds. Read on to see how it all started—and why visual hierarchy is so important.

Creating visual hierarchy on a page using Gestalt principles

Taken from the psychological theory of Gestalt principles, the basic concept is that the human eye sees objects altogether before perceiving their separate parts.  The most important of all Gestalt principles is that a page must be organized as a whole, not separate pieces. Simply put, without a robust visual hierarchy, the clicks and conversions simply won’t happen.

Creating visual hierarchy with contrast

Fitt’s Law states that people find it easier to engage with larger objects within clickable range, so if you have a call to action on a page, it should be clear where a user should go. However, it isn’t quite as simple as that.

While larger objects on a web page will typically receive more attention than smaller ones, it isn’t enough for a call-to-action (CTA) to simply be big; the way in which the other items on the page contrast and correspond with the CTA, must create a sense of harmony for it to be truly effective.

Web design and The Golden Ration

A mathematical ratio that is roughly equal to 1.6180, The Golden Ration is found frequently in nature and used in classical design theory to create compositions that are balanced. It can also be applied to web design, when more structurally dynamic layouts are used to create a visual hierarchy. To help you with the math, you can use a website mockup tool to place a grid over your template and adjust your layout accordingly.

Using this ratio is arguably the simplest and most effective way to establish a visual hierarchy on a page.

Hick’s law and use of white space

Hick’s law has many principles, but the one that applies to web design states that when the number of choices are increased, the time to make a decision increases as well. Also, the more choices a user is presented with, the less likely they may be to choose one at all.

Arranging your page with enough white space to avoid causing a cognitive malfunction, enables users to figure out a website with ease, and move to the relevant CTA’squickly.

There are many different aspects of visual hierarchy when it comes to web design andit’s important to apply the ones that make sense based on your website layout.  Visual hierarchy is essential for improving a user’s overall experience, establishing clear navigation, and allowing certain elements to dominate a page to your advantage.  If you don’t understand the importance or don’t have the time to learn, we recommend hiring an experienced web design agency.  Lucky for you, that’s us!  Give us a call today and let us share our portfolio of websites.