Icons have become part of our online journey. They help engage website users and can add fun, style and interest to your website. So what are the benefits of using icons in your web design?
4 Benefits of Using Icons in Web Design
- Icons are effective communication devices
- Icons provide personality
- Icons add interest
- Icons aid navigation
When implemented correctly, there are several benefits to using icons in your web design. Visitors to your website will usually quickly scan your page and decide whether to read on – or click away. Icons can grab your visitors’ attention, luring them in to engage with your content and stay a while.
There are a few reasons why you should consider using icons in your web design.
4 Benefits of Using Icons in Web Design
1. Icons are effective communication devices
Icons are easy to understand and grab a user’s attention. Icons break down language barriers, reinforce website content and are far more memorable than text alone. Icons illustrate while adding freshness to your web design. An icon can quickly summarise and express what a section of text is about by visually communicating the core idea.
2. Icons provide personality
The icons you choose for your website will say a lot about your brand, so choosing a style that fits your brand’s personality is imperative.
Fun, bright and buoyant or sleek, modern and professional? There is an icon set that will be the ideal match for the personality you want your brand to project. Icons add a creative element to your website, so why not consider adding unique icons to your brand?
3. Icons add interest
Huge chunks of text can quickly turn users off a website. Icons are a great way to divide a wall of text, making it more readable.
Icons add visual interest, strategically taking large amounts of text and converting them into easy-to-tackle sections to draw your user in. Without pictures and icons, websites can become very dull. A well-designed web page will engage the user, create interest with visuals (from bold headlines to images, videos to icons) and break up content blocks to sustain the user’s focus. Icons are a great way of doing precisely that.
There are so many icons to choose from, you are sure to find one that works brilliantly with your brand and matches the vision you have for your website. While specific themes, such as the popular DIVI, offer their own tremendous range of icons, should you desire something specific, Pixel Fish can create exclusive custom icons for your website. Contact us for a chat today about how we can add icons to your website that are uniquely your own.
4. Icons aid navigation
When placed correctly, icons guide your user and can help you intuitively navigate your website without relying upon the text. If misused, icons can clutter and confuse. Using icons should not distract from website content but rather enhance it. It is essential to ensure icons are used as visual guidelines to aid navigation, not to decorate a website with minimal content simply.
Here are a few things to keep in mind…
Icons should enhance your website user’s experience, not complicate it. Remember that although icons can – and should – be creative, they need to be functional.
Your icons should be commonly recognised symbols. An icon’s ability to communicate its message within a few seconds relies upon the user recognising instantly what the icon represents. Minimise confusion where you can: for example, an envelope has become the universal symbol for email. Therefore, to communicate ‘email’ to your users visually, sticking with a simple icon of an envelope is the way to go.
Icons can be an appealing addition to your website and entice and engage your users. Use icons to add interest, break up walls of text, help your users navigate their journey and communicate swiftly to your visitors – all while conveying your brand’s personality! Icons can become a fantastic feature of your site regarding functionality and design aesthetics.
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