Whether you’re looking for a website for yourself or you're a web designer working with a client, it’s important to have a plan before you start working. A plan will steer you in a strategic direction, reduce chances of being sidetracked, and control website costs because it will streamline the workload. Here are a few steps that should be part of your design process plan.
Set Goals
This step may sound obvious, but it’s amazing how many people wanting a website to move forward without clearly setting goals. More importantly, all parties involved should agree on the goals. If one partner thinks one way and another partner has a different vision, the website is likely to flop. Setting goals involves answering questions such what do you want to accomplish? Should the site inform, win support, sell products, or something else? Who is the target audience? How can the target audience take action? These are just a few questions to ask.
Determine Scope
You may start with a website, but what other functions will be needed as complementary services? Will you need an email newsletter, an app, or a social media campaign? All of these services are useful in today’s digital world. It’s just important to plan for dedicating resources to make them happen.
Sitemap and Wireframe Planning
These tools are like a road map. They help you see a direction for where to go. Without a road map, your journey might result in multiple wrong turns. The same can be said for developing your website. Your sitemap and wireframe can help you see if all of the bases are covered in how you want visitors to experience your website.
Content Strategy
Content includes the written words, images, video, and charts that will populate your website. When you create content, you'll need to appeal to two audiences. The first audience is people who are on your site, and the second audience is the search engines that are crawling the web. For the first audience, you need engaging content. For the second audience, you need to use SEO best practices to attract search engine algorithms.
Double Checking
Once you create your site, double check it for ease of user experience and functionality. Ask people who haven’t been involved with the site to give it a try. Sometimes, fresh eyes will find glitches that people close to the project overlook. You’ll also need to make sure links are functioning properly and that the site loads correctly on various devices. After you complete a thorough testing program, it’s time to launch.
Develop the Best Website Possible
There are many website hosting plans available to make developing a website easy. When you consider website pricing, don’t look at costs alone. The quality of your final website can make or break its effectiveness.
