Whether you are a freelancer, or you own a physical store, having an effective and engaging website can help you serve your clients 24/7 and also attract potential customers. Are you looking to build a new website or do you want to make your existing website more effective? Here we have curated 5 Steps to Designing a Website That Can Help Grow Your Business just for you!
Even though every website is unique, there are some crucial steps to be followed to improve the efficiency of any website.
5 Steps to Designing a Website
Website design isn’t just about the aesthetic sense of the user interface. It also involves a well-planned out design and strategy to fulfill the ultimate purpose of the website.
Follow the 5 steps given below to design your winning website to grow your business:
Step 1: Define the Goals and Objectives of Your Website
A website design process isn’t an easy task. It requires a well-thought-out design and strategy to make it effective and friendly for the users. Before starting your website design process, you must build a creative brief outlining of your website’s goals and objectives. Sit with your team and ask yourself the following questions. Share your answers with your team and include them in your brief outline to give your design the clarity and efficiency it needs.
- What are the goals and objectives of this website?
- What must this website accomplish?
- What problems will this website solve?
- What are the intended benefits your user may get when using this website?
- Who are the target users of this website?
- What is the primary aim of this website? Is it selling something? Is it informing the users about something? Or does it prompt the users to sign up for something?
- Does your website have a competitor website? What are the strengths and weaknesses of that website?
You must have a clear understanding of your target audience to answer the above questions effectively.
Step 2: Plan a Strategy for Your Website Design Process
One of the common issues of web development is scope creep. This usually happens when the project is not clearly defined, controlled, or documented. The scope of the project keeps expanding and eventually, the estimated timelines would get extended and will also require budget extensions.
A well-planned strategy with realistic timelines is key to a project’s long-term success. For that, you must sort out three primary elements and they are:
- Programming language and technology stacks
- Content strategy planning
- Sitemap and wireframes
Step 3: Design and Develop Your Website
If you are creating a website for an already existing business, then your existing brand elements should be incorporated into your website. The color scheme, fonts, logo, etc must be incorporated into the website so that visitors recognize you. If yours is a startup, you can allow your designers the freedom to choose the website design.
After the designing process is handed over to the web development team, it's time for coding. The database, framework, and platform determined in the planning stage play a crucial role in the making of these functioning web pages.
You have to also conduct front-end and back-end development for the well-functioning of your website.
Step 4: Test Your Website
Testing your website is a crucial and critical step in the website design process, it must happen alongside development. End-to-end website testing includes user experience (UX), compatibility, functionality, website security testing, and performance.
Some of the primary testing categories include:
- Usability testing: This focuses on ease of use while browsing in terms of searchability, accessibility, and usefulness.
- Functional testing: This ensures that all the features of a website are validated against those mentioned within the functional specifications document.
- Compatibility testing: This ensures the website’s functioning is uniform across a range of devices and operating systems, especially mobile devices.
Step 5: Launch and Maintain Your Website
This step involves transferring your website from a local server to a live server. Web designing is like a tightrope between form and function, so your design and development team must find a sweet spot between the two before launching the website to the public.
Since your website is dynamic, it needs frequent updation and the addition of functionality and content.
Mistakes to Avoid While Designing a Website
Before you begin designing, you must familiarize yourself with the common mistakes during the website design process. This helps you avoid such mistakes and to maximize your site’s effectiveness.
- Poor communication with your fellow web developers: Some websites suffer due to miscommunication between the business owners, web development team, and marketing team. Decide in advance the amount of time and money your website will take, and make the necessary changes before the actual development takes place.
- Avoiding SEO: You might be having the world’s best website, but since you have made SEO an afterthought no one can find your website. Design your website with SEO in your mind. This will help boost traffic and visitors to your website. Conduct keyword research to understand the type of questions your target audience expects your website to answer.
- Launching a website and forgetting: Some companies create and launch a website and forgets all about it. Launching a website is not the final step but a milestone.
Now, you know the crucial steps that are involved in the Website Development that can help your business grow. And some of the mistakes to avoid while and after designing your website.
You can also contact a web designing company in Dubai, for an effective website to help grow your business.
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