There’s an old saying that emphasizes the long-term effects of first impressions. Someone’s physical appearance, behavior, and background, for instance, influence our impressions and judgments.
The same concept applies to how people view your business website. Your site serves as your target audience’s first glimpse into your business. If they’re not impressed with what they see, they may not end up doing business with you.
Your Website’s Appearance Matters
The concept of first impressions is the reason web design is essential. A well-designed site creates a positive impact on your target audience and generates leads for your business.
Web design also affects customer service. If your audience has a hard time browsing your website, they will think that you don’t put any effort into helping them move around your site easily.
What Goes into Designing a Website?
When you need a new website or a redesign of your current one, you usually pass the project to your web designer or a trustworthy web design agency. You work with them to make sure that the site design meets your business’s needs.
But what exactly goes into designing a website? Here is a typical process that web designers use to complete a project:
Step 1: Brief
Everything discussed in the brief will influence the outcome of the project. To make sure the site design meets your requirements, provide the most precise and comprehensive brief to your web designer, which includes:
- The purpose of the website
- Optimization for different resolutions
- Mobile version
- Brand resources (e.g., fonts, images, brand bible)
Based on the brief, the web designer will determine the project’s timeline, deadlines, and estimated budget.
Step 2: Planning
The web design team will brainstorm and research a design that will fit your requirements. An essential part of this phase is information architecture, which determines how a visitor will move through the website before taking the desired action.
After creating a hierarchy, the designers will map out the location and operation of functionalities like booking forms and payment systems. Mock-ups are made to assist in the design and development process.
Step 3: Designing
The designer begins by choosing a color scheme based on your brand bible and the message you want to send to your site visitors. They also carefully select imagery, visual elements, and rich media to help strengthen your company’s message.
During this process, the designer must make sure that the design offers the best user experience across a variety of devices. They will create variations of the design so you can decide which option to choose as the final layout. The designer should also use a contrast checker to ensure the website is WCAG-compliant.
Step 4: Development
The development team takes the chosen design and makes sure the website meets all accessibility and web standards. The site can be developed using CSS, HTML, XML, or XSL. Content management systems like WordPress can also be used.
Whichever is your choice, the developer will configure your site’s database to meet content and structure requirements. They will then test the website to make sure all elements work correctly. Once they are done testing, they’ll integrate the content.
The developer will also configure site speed and performance, security, and markup for search engine optimization purposes.
Your website is the online storefront of your business. You want it to be well-designed, so it can attract visitors and convert them into customers. If you want a website for your business or want to update your present one, know that it doesn’t take one step. Going through the various stages of web design will give you a site that brings the best of first impressions.
