When looking at a website or designing your own, there are many key components that will capture the attention of the viewer. For a website to be effective in projecting its message, it must stay true to a central theme and have a layout that is simple yet also appealing. Here are three websites that illustrate these components:

  1. MarkGrassia.com – Digital Portfolio

This digital portfolio is an example of a good website because at first glance you know exactly who Mark Grassia is: an editor. Not only does he make that clear right off the bat but he does it in an eye-catching way with moving text and visuals in a slideshow in the background.

The website has four main components:

  • Work
  • Resume
  • Bio
  • Contact

When clicking on any of these options on the top of the page, you will be automatically scrolled down to that section, saving time instead of having to scroll through everything manually. This makes the website very easy to use and clean cut. The simple color scheme of red, black, and white is not overwhelming and provides an aesthetic appeal.

2. VICE News

VICE News is unique because it provides news stories from all over the world and includes smaller stories apart from breaking news that bigger news sites do not usually feature. The layout is relatively simple to understand. There are tabs to view videos, select different regions of the world, and choose between news topics. The information is dispersed and there is a wide variety of stories to choose from.

The featured stories are laid out in a larger format and are the first things to draw your attention which is an effective tactic. The color scheme is a minimalistic black and white. Most of the color comes from the featured images for the different news stories which adds character to the website and gives readers visuals to go along with the title of the story making it more appealing.

3. Buzzfeed

Buzzfeed is a more well-known news organization and appeals especially to Millennials. This is most likely do to the type of content produced by the site. Buzzfeed is best known for entertaining videos and lists that touch on the everyday struggles of life, school, and relationships. Buzzfeed also uses the power of the site to talk about more serious topics as well.

When first coming to the website’s homepage, you are bombarded by what seems to be endless amounts of news and entertainment stories. The good news is it is easy to navigate the site. The home page has a string of stories across the top to choose from as well as a banner alerting your attention to breaking news. There are then five main sections you can click on:

  • News
  • Buzz
  • Life
  • Quizzes
  • Videos

By choosing any of these options you will be taken to a page with many different stories or videos to choose from some with another menu allowing you to further narrow your topic of interest. What makes this website so successful is the visual appeal from the clearly laid out story headlines to the simple red, yellow, and blue color scheme separating the headlines from the different menu selections. There are also lots of visuals that catch the eye of the reader and entice you to click and read on.