Creating an impressive website that meets users’ needs can be challenging for web designers. There is a complete list to follow to make sure it looks appealing, functional, and user-friendly at the same time. This checklist serves as a guide to help designers create a good website accessible to all users.
In this article, we will see all the essential steps web designers should follow when creating an impressive website, including planning, design and content, development, optimization, and launching.
Planning
Every successful project starts with good planning. When working on your website design, thinking of every little detail and making sure everything looks perfect can be challenging, but here are some simple steps for a stress-free planning phase.
What are your website goals?
The first step in the planning phase is identifying the website’s primary goals. What will the purpose of the website be? For example, generating leads, increasing sales, providing information, etc.
Identify target audience
You must understand your audience’s needs, preferences, and behavior and see how to match them with the design you plan to create.
Develop sitemap and wireframes
A site map is a hierarchical diagram showing the website’s pages and their relationship. Wireframes visually represent the website’s layout, functionality, and content.
Define website content
The final step in the planning phase is to define the website’s content. You need to determine the type of content you want to include, such as text, images, videos, and infographics, and create a strategy regarding them.
Design Phase
The design phase is where the visual aspects of your website come to life. In this phase, you must select a color scheme, choose typography and font sizes, use high-quality images and graphics, and ensure your site is mobile-friendly.
Color affects how visitors perceive and interact with your website. Different shades convey different emotions, so when selecting a color scheme, consider how you’d like the audience to view your brand.
Typography is also very important for your website. It refers to the style, arrangement, and appearance of text. Choose fonts and font sizes that are legible and align with your brand identity and website goals.
Images and graphics must be high-quality to align with your brand identity and website goals.
With more people accessing the internet from their mobile devices, your website must be mobile-friendly. Ensure your website’s design and layout are responsive and optimized for mobile devices.
Development Phase
In the development phase, your website starts to look put together through coding and programming. You must write clean code, implement SEO best practices, optimize site speed, and test website functionality before launching the website.
Writing clean codes will help the website’s performance and maintenance. Use coding best practices and standards to ensure your website is easy to maintain and update.
Implementing SEO best practices will help your website rank higher on search engine results pages and attract more traffic. Use relevant keywords, meta tags, and other on-page optimization techniques to improve your website’s visibility.
Site speed is critical for user experience and search engine rankings. Optimize your website’s performance by compressing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and using caching techniques.
Testing your website’s functionality is a must before launching it. Test your website’s functionality across different browsers, devices, and screen sizes to see if it works as intended.
Content Creation
Content creation is also significant in creating an impressive website. The content on a website is what engages visitors and provides them with information about the company, its products or services, and its values. Here are some essential steps to follow for creating high-quality and engaging content:
The content on a website should be well-written, informative, and engaging. It should be easy to read and provide value to the reader. It’s essential to use a conversational tone and avoid technical jargon, which can confuse visitors.
Ensure your content is SEO optimized by using relevant keywords, including in the title, meta description, and throughout the text. However, be sure not to overuse keywords, as this can result in a penalty from search engines.
Include calls-to-action (CTAs), which are buttons or links encouraging visitors to take action, such as signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or contacting the company. CTAs should be strategically placed throughout the website and be clear and concise, telling visitors what they need to do next.
Launch Phase
The launch phase is the final stage of website development, and it’s where you prepare your website for public viewing. In this phase, you need to recheck that your website is optimized for search engines, responsive on all devices, error-free, and backup website files.
Your website should be optimized for SEO to ensure it appears in search engine results pages. Make sure once again that you’ve implemented SEO best practices, such as using keywords, meta tags, and alt tags.
Your website should be responsive on all devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Test your website’s responsiveness using different devices to ensure it looks and functions as intended.
Verify that your website is error-free by testing its functionality and usability. Check for broken links, missing images, and other errors that could negatively impact user experience.
Last but not least, back up your website files to protect them from data loss or corruption. Create a backup plan to recover your website quickly in a disaster.
Post-Launch Phase
In the post-launch phase, ensure your website remains up-to-date, secure, and functioning correctly. In this phase, you must monitor website traffic and analytics, update website content regularly, fix bugs or errors, and keep the website secure.
Monitor your website’s traffic and analytics to understand your audience’s behavior and preferences. Use this information to optimize your website’s performance and improve user experience.
Keep your website fresh and engaging by updating its content regularly. This can include adding new pages, updating existing content, and improving blog post design.
Regularly check your website for bugs or errors and fix them promptly to ensure it functions correctly. This can include checking for broken links, optimizing site speed, and ensuring that forms and buttons work correctly.
Ensure it remains secure by regularly updating its software, monitoring for malware or viruses, and using secure hosting and data backup services.
Conclusion
In conclusion, creating an impressive website requires careful planning, attention to detail, and adherence to essential steps in the web design process. A well-designed website looks visually appealing, meets users’ needs, and provides a positive user experience. By following the checklist outlined in this article, you’ll have an optimized, accessible-to-all-users website that offers high-quality content for visitors.
