As technology advances, it allows us to perform more and more tasks without even realizing how complex they are. Designing websites is one of them. There are multiple questions to answer and multiple challenges to solve along the way. Having a tried and tested, proven web design process to go through it all can help a lot. Thanks to the evolution of website builders, you can design a website yourself and create an impressive online presence. In today’s article, we’ll look at 5 important steps in building a website.
#1 Set your goal
Determining the purpose of the website is the first step in creating a business, blog, or website. It will maximize the benefits of your online presence. A clear understanding of your purpose will help you shape your brand identity and determine what assets and design effects to include on your site.
Questions to research and answer at this important stage of the website design and development process include:
- Who is the site for?
- What do they expect to find or do there?
- Is the primary purpose of this website to inform, sell or entertain?
- Should the website convey the core brand message or is it part of a broader branding strategy with its unique focus?
- What competitor websites, if any, exist and how should this site be inspired by/different from those competitors?
This is the most important part of any web development process. If all these questions are answered you can successfully move on to the next stage of website development.
#2 Find a Suitable Website Builder
The next step of the process is to choose the right website builder to achieve it. A website builder (also known as a CMS) is a platform on which you can design, customize, and publish a website without any coding knowledge. One of the popular website platforms is WordPress.It is great for creating a variety of websites from digital resumes and online directories to large e-commerce stores. Its robust blogging tools also make it a preferred choice for content creators. Using WordPress requires the purchase of a web hosting service to make the site available to the public. It is a good idea to learn some basic HTML and CSS coding skills. In addition, you should make sure that you familiarize yourself with the hosting support. This way, your WordPress site will always have the most effective protection. For beginners, Hostinger Website Builder is a good option for building websites.
#3 Design your website
The structure of your website is more than what can be found on a web page. It’s about how all those pages connect to each other and how they take the visitor from one place to another, helping them do what they want. Visual design is a way to communicate and attract users to the site. If done right, it can determine the success of a site.
Here are some important elements to focus on:
- Website Architecture: In order to provide the best website navigation for visitors, your pages need to be properly linked together. Make sure visitors can easily find the pages they need by adding a navigation menu and introducing internal links.
- Menu: This central design element will display the different elements presented on your website, ensuring that visitors can easily find and navigate from one page to another
- Colors: The psychology of colors proves that different hues have different impacts on human behavior, making them such an important aspect of website design. When choosing your website’s color scheme, the general rule of thumb is to limit yourself to three hues: one primary color (60% of the combination), one secondary color (30%), and one accent color (10%).
- Fonts: When choosing fonts for your page, choose ones that are legible (both desktop and mobile) and match your brand identity.
- Header and Footer: Your website’s header and footer are located at the top and bottom of your website, respectively. Both of these elements can improve usability and engagement. Your website header is a great place to include features you want visitors to find right away, such as your own logo or navigation menu. The footer is a great place to add contact information, social media buttons, or an email sign-up form.
Visual content is known to increase click-through rates, engagement and revenue. People want to see images on a website. Images not only make it easier to perceive, but they also reinforce the message in the text and can even convey vital messages without people even needing to read.
#4 Content creation
Once you’ve laid the groundwork for your digital design, you can start with the most important aspect of your site: the written content. This includes your images, text, logo, videos, and more. Use as much of your own material as possible to ensure you’re offering unique and branded content. The best way to get visitors’ attention is to showcase only your best content. Make sure your content is fully branded.
Content serves two main purposes:
- Goal 1. Content drives engagement and action
Content engages readers and prompts them to take the actions necessary to fulfill site goals. This is influenced by both the content itself and the way it is presented.
- Objective 2: SEO
Proper selection of keywords and key phrases is essential to the success of any website. Content increases a website’s visibility to search engines. The practice of creating and improving content to rank well in search is known as search engine optimization or SEO.
Content that is well-written, informative and keyword rich is more easily perceived by search engines, all of which helps to make the site easier to find.
#5 Testing and Launch
Once the site has all the visual elements and content, you’re ready to test. Test each page thoroughly to make sure all links work and that the site loads properly. Also check that your site works on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Use multiple devices to make sure the site functions properly and looks aesthetically pleasing. Once we’re done with testing it’s the turn of the favorite part website creation process. When everything has been thoroughly tested and you are happy with the site, it’s time to launch it. Once the site is up and running, you can continually user-test new content and features, monitor analytics, and refine your messaging.
Conclusion
Well-designed websites offer much more than aesthetics. They attract visitors and help people understand the product, company, and brand through a variety of metrics including visuals, text, and interactions. Contact us in case you would like us to help you develop a website.
