5 Tips For Getting Started On A Web Design Project

Many people think of all the technical tasks involved whenever web design process is mentioned. Well, it’s more than that, but also a little more basic than you might think. Apart from the aesthetics, slick visuals, and the social media buttons, a well-developed website should be able to attract visitors. Just like a physical store, your website will be of no use if people aren’t interested in viewing whatever you post on your pages.

Therefore, you must ensure that all elements of your site from interactions, visuals, and text should work together towards a predefined goal. This harmonious synthesis of components might seem quite difficult to achieve, but it’s actually simple when you have the right resources in place. So, where should your project begin? Read on to get more information on this crucial subject!

#1. Goal Definition

As earlier mentioned, all the elements of your website need to serve a common purpose. Therefore, it only makes sense to start the whole process by defining your goals. You probably already know this, but it’s worth noting that a website without a clear and concise objective has very little chance of success.

So, how do you define your goal or that of your client? A good objective should have three characteristics, namely:

 icon-angle-right It Should Be Clearly Defined

To avoid any confusion, you should sit down with the website owner, if you’re the designer, and define the main purpose of the website. What’s the aim of building this site? Some build it to tap into the online market and boost their sales.

Other people, on the other hand, are aiming for entertainment. Clear reason and purpose behind the whole project are what will determine the aesthetics and other web development components.

 icon-angle-right It Should Be Measurable

Saying, “I want visitors to my website,” is a goal, but this isn’t measurable. Remember, even having two visitors per month still meets this particular objective because it’s not specific enough. The best way to go about it is to come up with an estimate number of visitors or sales you’d like to make over a given period of time.

For instance, if you’re aiming for at least 100 sales per month, make sure you state exactly that. The reason why you should be clear on this is because it’ll help you measure your success in the future. Remember, these are some of the metrics used to evaluate the performance of any website. So, it’d be prudent to have the desired estimates during the design phase.

 icon-angle-right It Should Be Achievable

Some people define their goal quite well, but being overambitious with their requirements. For instance, if it’s an e-commerce website, you can’t expect it to bring in a million sales per month. It’d be wise to start with a smaller and achievable goal, then scale your expectations when things start to flow.

#2. Scope Definition

Once you’ve stated and clearly defined your goal, it’s time to move to the implementation phase. Having a goal is as good as having an idea in your head—it can only become beneficial when you work towards it.

For every web design objective, there are certain necessary features that need to be included for the project to be successful. All these elements are what make the scope of your web design process.

By definition, a project scope is a plan used by the web designers to implement the client’s ideas. Whether you’re building your website or someone else’s, the scope should incorporate all the ideas and goals of the whole process.

Some of the main factors to consider here include the development time, the desired output, the required tools, and budget limitations.

The advantage of writing down a project scope is the fact that it gives you a clear definition of all the expected challenges. For instance, if the client wants their website to be up and running within three months, you can use the information gathered to see whether that’s possible.

It’s also a good way of preparing both parties for what’s to come during the production process to avoid any delay along the way.

#3. Sitemap And Wireframe

How will the features in the project goals and scope definition interrelate? This is the question you should ask yourself next. Sitemap is, basically, the organization of pages and other features in your website. Wireframe, on the other hand, can be defined as the blueprint of your to-be website.

In this step, you need to define the correlation between all website components. What will be featured on the homepage or landing page? Will you have separate sections for videos, photos, and text contents? All these are important because they’ll determine the appearance of the website.

#4. Content Creation

With a virtual picture of the website in your mind, you can then go ahead and start creating content for each web page. Of course, it goes without saying that every content you create should be optimized for better SEO ranking.

The home, about, blog, contact, and landing pages must have optimized headings, subheadings, and content for the initial goal to be achieved.

#5. Test And Launch

A good website in this day and era should be able to work on just about any digital gadget. Once you’ve combined everything, you’ll need to test the product on a smartphone, iPad, and computer.

Also, be sure to do the same for all platforms, which include Android, iOS, Window, and Mac. Once you’re happy with the results, the final step is to launch and start monitoring and measuring the performance of the website.

Conclusion

Designing a website may seem daunting for a first-timer, and that’s expected. But, with the right skills and resources, everything can flow smoothly. The best way to go about it is to simplify the process into small pieces of tasks. Start by defining the main goal and the project’s scope.

You can then move on to the nits and grits, which include wireframing, content creation, testing, and launching the final product. It’s worth noting, however, that each project may require different features for it to be a success. Therefore, be sure to consider this in your design process.