Website design is often thought of as choosing the look, but a successful site is born much earlier: from goals, structure and content. In this guide we go through the design process step by step.
1. Define the goal
What does the site need to achieve? Enquiries, online shop sales, bookings, or simply findability and credibility? The goal determines everything else: the structure, the content and the metrics. A site without a goal is just a digital brochure.
2. Plan the structure and site map
List the pages a visitor needs: home page, services or products, prices, contact details and a possible news section. A good rule of thumb is that a visitor should find what they are looking for in no more than three clicks. Fewer pages with good content always beat a large number of thin pages.
3. Content before appearance
Write the texts and gather the images before the visual design. Content determines the structure of the page templates, not the other way around. For every page. A clear heading that states the benefit, concise body text and one clear call to action (call, request a quote, buy).
4. Mobile first
Most traffic comes from phones, and Google also assesses your site based on its mobile version. So design for the small screen first. Short paragraphs, buttons that are big enough and images that load quickly.
5. Consider search engines from the start
Think about the words your customers use to search for your services, and build the pages around these searches. One topic per page, the search term in the heading and a descriptive title text. Optimising afterwards is always more laborious than getting it right from the start.
6. Get the technical foundation in order
A website needs three things. A domain name, hosting, that is web hosting, and a publishing platform, for example WordPress. Fast hosting and an SSL certificate affect both the visitor experience and search engine visibility.
Do it yourself or with a professional?
Doing it yourself is affordable and educational, but it takes time and the end result depends on your own skills. The advantage of a professional is the whole. The structure, content, technology and search engine visibility are designed right in one go, and you focus on your own work. Take a look at Nordweb's website service, where the site is designed and built for you at a fixed price, or do it yourself and start with web hosting.