Today we will review the subject of why your website should be visually stunning and how to draw some inspiration for its looks. Even if you are going to hire a designer to do the job for you, you should be able to tell them at least how you envision your future website. This is by no means an easy task, and you need to draw some inspiration, especially if you are experiencing difficulties imagining how your website should look from the get-go.

But even if you have an idea of what you’d like to see, it’s still a good idea to check if your vision is outdated or meet the current design standards. Why try something when it’s been proven ineffective? The best place to get this much-needed knowledge is, unsurprisingly, the internet, where various websites are showing the most current trends in website design. Here are the top 5 of them, which will leave you with a lasting impression.

Dribbble

Dribbble is a platform for designers where they can share their ideas, find inspiration, or even find jobs. In addition, it’s a place where anyone can share screenshots of their work, effectively creating an online-based portfolio. Today, tens of millions of designers and regular people use the website to draw inspiration, show their work, or find an excellent designer to work on their projects. Among the frequent users of Dribbble are companies such as Airbnb, Apple, Facebook, Google, Shopify, and others.

This social media website for designers is the perfect tool to find all sorts of designer inspiration for websites and even for different elements. The website is divided into categories such as animation, branding, mobile, illustration, print typography, and others. Moreover, if you are looking for examples in a specific niche, you can type your search in the Discover section, and you will get countless visual representations.

More importantly, Dribbble offers any user the unique opportunity to learn about design and upgrade their knowledge further if they are already professional designers.

When it comes to business owners, this website is a goldmine, which offers both the perfect place to hire a designer based on the work they have uploaded, as well as to see the trending and noteworthy designs, which may help them make their brand instantly recognizable.

While there are many websites where you can see a whole concept, Dribbble is, without a doubt, the go-to place if you want to check out a separate element and get inspiration and learn how to design a particular part of your website.

Behance

Just like Dribbble, Behance is somewhat of a designer social network. This is yet another place where they can show off their work and get inspiration. So naturally, you can draw some inspiration yourself and “steal” some ideas behind different elements for your web design. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should copy the designer’s work entirely, but getting some visual push is always a good idea.

Behance has one of the biggest designer communities across the internet. The content on the website is entirely created and edited by the community members, and there is hardly anything that deviates from the main topic – design.

The search engine is your biggest partner on this website. You can easily find exactly what you are looking for with extensive filters. For example, you can effortlessly choose a specific creative field, such as 3D art, Advertising, Digital Art, UX, Web Design, and others. Furthermore, you can filter which tools were used for the design (e.g., Photoshop, Illustrator, or another), the colors, the designer’s country of origin, school, subscription type, and others.

If you have a favorite designer, you can easily check all their work and even hire them if you have the budget. Otherwise, you can go through their gallery, mainboards, and applications with just several clicks.

Just like Dribbble, Behance is, among other things, a job board where you can hire a professional to take on your project, or if you are a designer, you can find a gig in the Jobs section. Either way, Behance should be bookmarked on your browser just in case you need inspiration for your next website.

Pinterest

Pinterest is probably the most well-known and beloved inspiration website out there. It’s the place where you can save everything that catches your eye. Also, Pinterest actively helps you find more of what you are looking for. It’s the most well-organized and extensive library of ideas, designs, and works of art that will inspire your next website’s look.

If you’re redesigning a workspace or property layout, integrating floor plans into your inspiration process is invaluable. Beyond the artistic showcase on platforms like Pinterest, practical approaches are available if you need to bring customizations to real-world structures. You can effortlessly customize floor plans on Canva to visualize spatial efficiencies. With an array of templates and design tools that revolve around precision and collaboration, it’s a go-to resource for those looking at design both aesthetically and functionally.

Chances are you are already part of the Pinterest community. As of 2022, the website has almost half a billion users monthly, making it one of the most visited websites on the internet. One thing that seizes attention is that about 75% of Pinterest’s users are female. So if your website is going to be women-centric or you will offer feminine products or services, it’s an excellent decision to get your inspiration exactly from Pinterest.

The way that Pinterest works is perfect for research in any sphere, but especially so when it comes to design. The website uses blocks where users pin (or save) their favorite content. Each user can own several such blocks, and they can even be shared with others to contribute as well. These blocks are nothing short of already compiled content ready to inspire you. For example, if you write in the search engine Food website design, you will get countless blocks and entries representing exactly what you are looking for. It’s the easiest and most efficient way to conduct preliminary research and find out what websites in your niche look like.

There are two downsides, however. First, the website scarcely represents the male perspective. Secondly, in some cases, you can get clogged with way too many designs, and if you don’t have the experience and the vision, you might decide on something that’s not optimal for your needs.

Awwwards

Have you ever heard the term “Award Winning Design”? This phrase always raises the question, “Who gave them this award”? Well, the answer is right here. Awwwards, a charming play on words, is an organization of professional designers, who select, judge, and award websites based on several crucial points. They evaluate a website’s design, usability, creativity, and content to determine which is the best. And while all components are important for the final result, the design is the one that most heavily sways the jury. Approximately 40% of the score is determined by how the website looks.

So, if you want your website to look like one of the best in the industry, it stands to reason to get your inspiration exactly from Awwwards. Still, keep in mind that if you want to hire the creators of an award-winning design, you will have to prepare for more hefty pricing.

The best perk of this website, however, is that it’s not free. At least not for those sharing their project. Each entry costs approximately $65, guaranteeing that you will see only the best in Awwwards. So in a sense, Awwwards is the opposite of Pinterest, where instead of everything, you get just a tiny sample of the best on the market. Still, that might also be considered a downside, as not all niches are represented, and you won’t see everything the market has offered for each industry. On the plus side, you can easily see how users have voted on the website’s design, usability, creativity, and content, giving you a good idea of what to go for on your website.

Godly

“Discover astronomically good web design inspiration from all over the internet” is quite the promise this relatively new website gives. But, of course, with a name such as Godly, one can’t be too surprised at their lack of modesty and high self-esteem. Still, Godly might be up to something, as they are indeed a wonderful place to get inspired for your own website.
The website’s design is simplistic at best, but it’s just what you need when researching. You don’t need to go through several dozen clicks to get to an exciting website for inspiration. All you need to do is scroll as if you are on Facebook, and the animated thumbnails will do the rest. It’s a great place to browse if you don’t know exactly what you need. Even if you do, you can go through the tags and find the one that most closely represents your needs. You can search based on type, style, font, database, language, servers, platforms, and many more.
Godly is an outstanding inspiration tool that allows you to check an outrageously large number of websites in a fraction of the time that you’ll need using any other tool.

Which one is the best?

If you have no idea what specifically you are looking for as a design, Godly is the best choice. However, if you know what you need and want a vast collection of niched design samples, Pinterest is a better choice. On the contrary, Awwwards will offer you a handful of the best designs on the market. Behance and Dribbble will let you browse through the designer’s work and actually see what designers consider their best work.
Unlike with design, choosing a good website hosting, which is much more important than the design, is pretty straightforward. You need secure, stable, and fast hosting with zero downtime. There is no need to browse thousands of websites to get the best one. All you need to do is get to HostArmada, and we will help you get the best plan for your needs.