Layout is about “how information is placed on the page.” The same content, arranged differently, can read completely differently. The following are the most basic and most often overlooked aspects of layout.
Alignment: Establish Baselines First
When elements on a page align along the same edge, they immediately look visually tidy. A common approach is to define a few baselines—left starting line, column width, margins—and then have all elements align to them, rather than adjusting positions one by one. Left alignment suits body text that needs strong readability, center alignment suits headings and short sentences that need emphasis, and right alignment is mostly used for special occasions. Note that you should not mix multiple alignment methods within the same area.
Spacing: Grouping Depends on Distance
The distance between elements directly expresses their relationship. Information in the same group should be close together, while different groups should be separated. Many pages look messy not because there are too many elements, but because the spacing is uniform—all elements are the same distance apart, and the grouping relationship disappears. A practical approach is: first determine a basic spacing unit, then use multiples of it for all spacing, and the overall rhythm will naturally become unified.
White Space: Not Waste
White space gives the page a sense of breathing room and makes key points stand out more. Insufficient white space makes content look crowded and difficult to read; too much white space makes the page look empty and lacking in information. The criterion is the nature of the content: reading-focused pages need looser line spacing and paragraph spacing, while display-focused pages can let images occupy a larger area.
Contrast and Hierarchy
Express the importance of information through differences in font size, weight, color, and size. Headings large, captions small; highlights prominent, secondary elements restrained. Too many levels make it hard to grasp the key points, so a safer approach is to control variables—use only font size and spacing to create hierarchy, and keep color and decoration restrained.
Visual Flow
People view a page in a certain order. One task of layout is to make this order consistent with what you want: what is seen first, then what, and finally where the gaze lands. You can guide this through position, size, and color, placing the most important information and action entry points where the gaze naturally stops. A simple test is to blur the page and take a look; the parts that can still be recognized are what actually gets noticed first.
Proportion and Grid
The proportional relationships between page sections affect the overall sense of stability. A common approach is to let the main content area occupy a larger proportion and narrow the auxiliary information area, forming a structure with a clear primary-secondary distinction. A grid system provides a framework for organizing content: divide the page into several columns, align elements within the columns, and you can both maintain order and improve efficiency when making repeated adjustments.
Consistency
Within the same website, fonts, type scale, spacing, and color scheme should remain unified. Visitors do not need to readjust when switching between different pages, and this itself is part of the experience.
There is no single correct answer for layout, but there is a universal test: give the page to someone who has not seen it before and observe whether they can find what you want them to see within a few seconds. If they cannot, the problem is most likely in the items above.