Feb 24

Feb 24 5 Things to Consider If You Wish to Design Your Own Website

If you’re creating your website on your own, like many people do these days, these are the top 5 things you need to consider in order to create not only an aesthetically beautiful website but also a website that helps clients to take action, considering both usability and functionality.

These are the 5 things (not necessarily in that order) that you should pay attention to when building your website:

Your Ideal Client. Before you start, jot down everything you know about your ideal client and about what you’re selling. Who is it for, how will they use the website? What do they expect from your product/service? Is the website aligned to their expectations? Is the website aligned with the product/service you sell?
The Content. Organise your content so that you can “understand” the structure that will work best. So much of the design is context so you need to know exactly what your content will be like. And if you don’t know exactly you can change a few things later.
The Website Structure. Design your structure, get a pen, and draw as much as you can until you have a clear structure. Navigation, categories, and subcategories. Keep it simple, fewer distractions, better functionality. Try to minimize the number of clicks between pages. For instance, if you can send the client from A to B straight away why complicate structure by adding subcategories? And make it mobile-friendly. Readers’ expectations for responsive sites grows-and Google doesn’t like websites that don't offer mobile-friendly, responsive experiences. Google’s bots can easier understand your site’s layout if the structure is clear, which pages are important, and in what way pages relate to each other.
Good Website Copy. Good web copy is content that attracts people to stay on your website longer, to look for more information, or to buy your product. More copy doesn’t mean better sales funnel conversions. For example, too much information on landing pages could make your website visitors look away. Not everyone that visits your site is technical or interested in what you’re selling (yet). By the way, do you even need a landing page?
High-End Product Imagery. That’s a bit of a no-brainer. Make sure you have high-resolution photos on your website, especially if you’re selling products hire someone specialised in product photography. It makes a huge difference for your products and brand. If you have a blog (depending on the theme) or if you offer services you could use stock photos instead until you find a better solution for your images.

If you are a designer you first listen to what the client has in mind. The client will tell you what their expectations are and how they want their website to look like. Clients tell you what design they like. It’s natural. They need something they saw and they like it. When the question about business goals and users/clients/visitors arises that’s where it starts to get real. That’s when a client understands the meaning of usability and who is the website for. If you’re designing your website on your own, try to put yourself into your client’s position and see your website with their eyes.