Visuals can help visitors understand your website, find important information, and know what to do next. Images, graphics, colors, diagrams, videos, and other visual elements can also make a website more engaging.
The key is to use visuals intentionally rather than simply adding images to fill space.
1. Choose Visuals That Fit Your Brand
Your website’s visuals should reinforce your brand’s identity and messaging.
Consider your colors, typography, photography style, illustrations, graphics, and overall look. A website for a professional financial service, for example, may need a very different visual style from a website for a children’s activity center.
Custom graphics can also be useful when they communicate something specific about your website rather than looking like a generic stock image.
For example, the Me We Too website uses custom background graphics that fit its “Join the Club” messaging.
2. Use High-Quality Images Without Unnecessary File Size
Blurry, distorted, or poorly cropped images can make an otherwise well-designed website look unfinished.
Use images that are sharp enough for their intended display size, but don’t assume that the largest possible image is automatically the best choice. An image that is several times larger than it needs to be only adds unnecessary file size.
Crop and resize images appropriately for where they will appear on your website.
3. Optimize Images for Loading Speed
Large image files can slow down a website, especially on mobile devices or slower connections.
Compress your images and use modern image formats such as WebP when appropriate. The goal is to maintain good visual quality without making visitors download unnecessarily large files.
See WebP vs. JPG/PNG: Should You Use Fallback Images for Compatibility? for more about using WebP and fallback images.
You can also read How to Build a Website That Loads in Under 1 Second – Without Plugins for more website speed and image optimization tips.
With UltimateWB, image compression, WebP conversion, and lazy loading are built into the website builder, so you don’t need a separate image optimization plugin.
4. Use Visual Hierarchy to Guide Visitors
Not everything on a page should compete for attention.
Use size, position, spacing, contrast, color, and other visual differences to establish what visitors should notice first, second, and third.
For example, a page might have:
- A prominent headline explaining the page
- A supporting image or graphic
- A short explanation
- A clearly visible button or other call to action
If every element is large, bold, brightly colored, or surrounded by attention-grabbing effects, nothing stands out.
Good visual hierarchy makes a page easier to scan and helps visitors find what matters.
5. Make Sure the Visual Actually Adds Something
An image should have a reason for being there.
A relevant photograph can help visitors understand a product or location. A diagram can explain a process. An illustration can reinforce an idea. A screenshot can show how something works.
But an unrelated stock photo placed next to a paragraph simply because the page “needs an image” can distract more than it helps.
Before adding a visual, ask: Does this help visitors understand, navigate, or connect with the content?
If the answer is no, you may not need it.
6. Use Graphics to Explain Complicated Information
Some information is easier to understand visually than through paragraphs of text.
Charts, diagrams, illustrations, screenshots, maps, timelines, and other graphics can make complicated information easier to follow.
This is especially useful when explaining a process, comparing options, showing relationships between things, or presenting data.
A good visual should make the information easier to understand, not simply turn text into a picture.
7. Give Visuals Enough Space
A page can become difficult to use when images, text, buttons, and other elements are packed too closely together.
Whitespace gives individual elements room to breathe and makes the page easier to scan.
This doesn’t mean every page needs huge empty areas. It means that visual elements should have enough spacing around them that the page doesn’t feel crowded.
Spacing is particularly important on mobile, where there is much less screen space.
Read: Embracing Whitespace: The Secret Ingredient to Stunning Web Design
8. Design for Both Desktop and Mobile
A visual that looks great on a large monitor may not work the same way on a phone.
Images can become too small, text over an image can become difficult to read, and side-by-side visual elements may need to stack vertically.
Check how important visuals look at different screen sizes. Pay particular attention to:
- Text placed over images
- Image cropping
- Buttons and other interactive elements
- Spacing between elements
- Galleries and multiple-column layouts
- Background images
Responsive design isn’t just about making a desktop layout shrink down. The visual presentation should still make sense on a smaller screen.
See How do you make a website responsive (HTML, CSS, and development)? for more about responsive web design.
UltimateWB includes a built-in Responsive app for adapting website layouts to different screen sizes.
9. Use Captions When They Add Useful Context
Captions can explain what an image shows or why it is relevant.
They’re especially useful for photographs, diagrams, screenshots, charts, and other visuals that need additional context.
Not every decorative image needs a caption. Use one when it helps visitors understand the visual or its connection to the surrounding content.
10. Don’t Rely on Visuals Alone
Important information shouldn’t be communicated only through color, an image, or another visual distinction.
For example, if two items are identified only by different colors, someone who cannot distinguish those colors may not be able to tell them apart.
Use text, labels, icons, patterns, or other supporting information when necessary.
Also provide appropriate alt text for meaningful images. Decorative images can be handled differently so they don’t create unnecessary noise for people using screen readers.
For more about image alt text and accessibility, see Do Images and Alt Text Actually Help SEO?.
It’s also important to check the contrast between text and backgrounds. See How to Test the Color Contrast of Your Website for Accessibility for more information.
11. Use Video and Animation When They Improve the Experience
Video can be useful for product demonstrations, tutorials, tours, presentations, and other content that benefits from movement.
Animation can also draw attention to an important element or help demonstrate how something works.
But movement should have a purpose. Too many animations can make a page distracting, slow, or difficult to use.
Be especially careful with autoplay video, large background videos, and animations that continue unnecessarily.
Read: Design or Distraction? Avoiding the Most Overhyped Trends of 2026
12. Use Real People and User-Generated Content When Appropriate
Real photographs, customer-submitted images, testimonials, screenshots, and videos can make a website feel more authentic.
For example, UltimateWB’s Testimonials page includes user-submitted videos along with testimonials.
User-generated content can be particularly useful when visitors want to see real examples, experiences, or results rather than polished marketing imagery.
13. Keep the Overall Design Consistent
Individual visuals don’t have to look identical, but they should feel like they belong to the same website.
Keep things such as colors, typography, image treatments, button styles, borders, and spacing reasonably consistent.
This creates a more cohesive experience as visitors move from one page to another.
If you’re experimenting with different designs, you don’t have to get everything right on the first attempt. The UltimateWB built-in Page History tool makes it easy to go back to an earlier version of a page if you want to compare changes or revert them.
See how this works and how it differs from other website builders: Why Webflow, WordPress, Squarespace & Wix Fall Short on Page Backups (And the UltimateWB Fix)
14. Review Your Visuals From the Visitor’s Perspective
Finally, look at the page as a visitor rather than as the person who created it.
Ask:
- What do I notice first?
- Is it obvious what this page is about?
- Do the images help me understand the content?
- Can I quickly find the important information?
- Is anything distracting me?
- Does the page still work well on a phone?
- Are important text and controls easy to see?
- Are any images unnecessarily large or slow to load?
Effective visual design isn’t about adding as many visual elements as possible. It’s about using the right visual elements to make the website clearer, easier to navigate, and more engaging.
The goal is simple: use visuals to help visitors understand and use your website, not just to make the page look busy.
Related: Tutorial: How to Instantly Make Your Designs Look Cleaner
Ready to design & build your own awesome looking website? Learn more about UltimateWB! We also offer web design packages if you would like your website designed and built for you.
Got a techy/website question? Whether it’s about UltimateWB or another website builder, web hosting, or other aspects of websites, just send in your question in the “Ask David!” form. We will email you when the answer is posted on the UltimateWB “Ask David!” section.