Design of a website plays a crucial role. It determines whether your website visitors will be intrigued enough to keep reading or not.
Dull designs can be off-putting, making the viewer lose interest and bounce. Selecting the right content management system to build your website is also critical.
Here are 7 steps you should not miss out on:
Step 1: Create a project plan
Creating a plan before starting work on your project is the first and foremost step.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. What kind of a brand do I want to build? Jot down your objectives on a piece of paper.
2. What is my niche? Do I want to promote a product or provide services?
3. What kind of features would my website require? Surveys, pop-ups, social media buttons, etc.
4. Who am I making this website for? My target audience?
Once you’ve written down answers to all these questions, the way forward will be clearer to you. You would know which direction to take your website to.
The site you build should reflect the answers to these questions.
Step 2: Pick a platform
Website building platforms have made life easier. If you’re not the most technical person and don’t want to take care of the backend maintenance of running a website, then the website builder option is suitable for you.
There are also other platforms like Wix and Squarespace beside WordPress that allows you to choose from thousands of professional templates.
However, if you have decent coding skills and want access to the code to build an advanced website, you can code it yourself.
Assuming that you also don’t mind looking after the technical maintenance of your site, like hosting and security.
Web development is offered by companies, that can make a website for you.
Step 3: Design homepage
Keeping your homepage’s layout clean and clutter-free is really important. Site viewers tend to feel overwhelmed when they are presented with an excessive number of images and text.
You will come off more organised and professional if your site’s content is well thought-organised and well-crafted.
Good websites are more than just a pretty face. They need to function.
A good website must-have style, as well as substance.
Visitors can navigate freely through your homepage if you have designed it effectively. It should be clear how you want the visitor to interact with your page.
Not every homepage will contain buttons, but if you’re going to use them, you should use them right.
Your buttons, also known as call to actions (CTAs), are gateways to other pages, websites, promotional items and product galleries.
If the goal is to make people interact and click, you would have to place button right in front, with large text.
Step 4: Select a template
Choosing a website template is an essential decision for every business owner.
There are many things to consider; from the type of website you want to build, and different features and customisation options, down to the budget and your level of experience with editing templates.
Most templates will come with a pre-designed header. They can contain images, galleries and even videos. Don’t jump for the flashiest option.
It is essential to select a header that you can work with. A good header communicates your site’s core message to the visitors.
There are lots of different types of header. Each is good for different types of site.
Step 5: Choose a colour scheme
The colour scheme should reflect your business idea. If you’re keeping it professional, colours used should be black and grey.
If you’re making a fun, interactive website, then go for more vibrant colours.
This step is all about helping you come up with a winning colour strategy for your site. A good colour strategy involves three things:
1.A dominant colour combined with a complimentary one
2.A background-colour
3.A consistent colour scheme across the site
The next step is adding content to the site.
Step 6: Add content
Again, three things are involved:
1.Fonts
2.Written content
3.Images
Make your prose edgy and eye-catching. Large blocks of text look incredibly unappealing to the viewers. Enclosing the text with white spaces all around makes the text more visible and easier to read.
Good content isn’t tons and tons of text. It is informative and to-the-point text which helps you convey your message.
Step 7: Publish!
Finally, after layout and content have all been set up, the last step is to publish the website. Make sure you have thoroughly checked the details on all the site pages before publishing.
Source: e27
