Web design is continuously evolving with trends and fads as well. Making a professional looking site, however, might be more simple than you think and there are some basics that would need to be respected. The tips below might help you with that.
Keep your site clutter-free
Visitors really do not need all the clutter created by too much pop-ups, ads, icons and banners. Ads are useful, of course, as they help generate revenue but try to keep a right balance between clear spaces and ads. If you have pop-ups requesting users to sign up, try to keep that simple and elegant. The right visual balance would have to be determined by you. Generally, opt for flat designs with a good amount of whitespace. That would keep your visitors interested and make them focus more on your content.
Get inspired
Seek inspiration from sites that you like and take some notes about what you like about them and what you don’t. The site might be similar to yours but might have those few elements that you overlooked that make them look so much more professional and appealing. It might be their landing page, the way they present their products or the way they invite a call-to-action. In any case, try to emulate that on your own site.
Make good use of visual hierarchy
Visual hierarchy would dictate that your users would read your page from the top left first and then move down or to the right. This means that a button placed at the top left corner of your page would get more attention.