Web Design for Dummies: Designing Your First Website
Are you designing a website for the first time? Follow this “web design for dummies” guide for some simple steps in getting your business’s website started.
There are currently over 1 billion websites worldwide so good web design is absolutely vital. If you don’t have an online presence these days, your company will look amateurish in comparison to your competition.
For small outfits and one man bands, the expense of paying an agency to design and build them a website is usually an expense that can’t be justified. This is why build your own drag and drop templated site offerings from companies such as WIX have become so popular.
Luckily, the basics of website design are not too difficult to understand but you’ll need to do some research first. For you first-timers, we’ve developed our own web design for dummies guide to help you design your first website.
While you may be a “dummy” when you start, by the end of this article and with a little practice, you’ll soon be a pro. So keep on reading.
Web Design for Dummies Starts With Good Planning
Only true dummies just forge ahead with website design without a real plan. The Planning stage begins by asking yourself a few simple questions such as, who are my audience? You’re not designing your site for yourself, you’re designing it to catch the attention of potential customers. So figure out who they are and what they’d like to read and see on your website.
You should also know who your competition are. Check out their website design and see what they’ve included on their websites. If they’ve employed the services of a reputable web design agency then chances are they’ll be a good source of inspiration and have certain sections and content for good reason.
Lastly, no one likes difficult or overly complicated websites that are difficult to navigate so take some time to think about how you can create a website that’s user-friendly and attractive to potential customers?
Determining the answers to these questions in advance will save you time further down the line and ensure your first website is a success.
Creating Content
You may think that good web design is only about graphics but there’s much more to it than that. The content you put on your website is just as important as the graphics as it sets the tone for your brand.
So think about what messages you want to share with your customers. Why do you want them to visit your site? What information can you share with them that no one else can?
Think about your message as if you were a potential visitor to your site. Why would you be there? What information would you hope to find? What page would you hope to find that information on?
Good content is usually what compels a customer to make a purchase, pick up the phone, fill in a contact form and keep them coming back time and again. Therefore choose your words wisely!
Adding Photos and Videos
People love watching videos. Just look at how many funny cat videos are uploaded onto the internet on a daily basis. But a video is more than just for fun. Videos can inform, educate, and also make great testimonials for your site.
Video should actually be a big part of your marketing strategy. It’s great for SEO and with today’s smartphones, pretty much anyone can be the next James Cameron.
Good images are an absolute must on a website. Nobody wants to see badly lit or blurred images from a smart phone. Even if your budget doesn’t extend to employing the services of a photographer, stock library image websites such as i-stock and shutterstock offer cost effective professional images.
Colours
The colours you choose for your website have a huge bearing on the look and feel. That’s because colours are associated with emotions. So figure out what message you’re trying to send to your visitors and then choose your color theme.
Don’t go overboard with colors. Try to limit you palette to a maximum of three colours. You should also have white space on your website because too much content, videos, photos, or even colors will make your website seem too cluttered and will drive away visitors. So keep it clean and easy to read.
Of course, you can also save a lot of time and effort by outsourcing your web design to our professional team. Our service delivers a comprehensive solution so that you can save yourself the hassle and ensure your site hits the ground running.