What To Think About When Designing A Website From Scratch
When designing a website from scratch, there are several key factors to consider, and in today's blog, we will be helping you to know the things you may need to consider when designing your website from scratch.
What Is Website Design?
So let's start with the question of what is website design? Well, website design refers to the process of creating and designing websites. It involves various aspects, such as the layout, appearance, and functionality of a website. In today's digital world, websites have become an integral part of businesses and organisations. They serve as a virtual representation of these entities, acting as a platform to communicate information, showcase products or services, and engage with online users.
What Does A Website Design Do?
Website design encompasses the process of creating and designing the layout, appearance, and user experience of a website. A well-designed website not only looks visually appealing but also serves a practical purpose. The goal of a website design is to capture and engage the attention of visitors while ensuring easy navigation and accessibility. Your website's aim should be to create a seamless user experience that encourages users to stay longer on the site, explore your content, and ultimately take desired actions such as making a purchase or filling out a form. With an effective web design, you can establish your online presence, convey your brand's message, and attract potential customers.
Choosing The Right Platform.
When it comes to choosing the right platform for your website, there are several factors to consider and here are a few for two of the many platforms.
Using WordPress For Your Website Design
One option is WordPress, which offers a user-friendly interface and a wide range of customisable features that allow you to create unique and professional-looking websites. A great addition to WordPress is that you can easily create and manage your website content without writing lines of code. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced web developer, WordPress provides numerous themes, plugins, and tools to help you bring your vision to life. Additionally, WordPress is known for its strong community support, which means you can easily find answers to your questions or troubleshoot any issues that might arise.
Using Wix For Your Website Design
Another popular option is Wix, a user-friendly website builder that offers a variety of templates and drag-and-drop features. Wix is great for beginners who may not have much experience with website design or coding. It allows users to easily customise their site's look and feel, making it unique to their brand or business. However, it's important to note that Wix does have some limitations in terms of SEO and customisation options compared to other platforms. Therefore, exploring other platform options is worth exploring if you have more advanced needs or require a highly specialised website.
On the other hand, if you are more comfortable with coding, there are website platforms available that allow for greater flexibility and customisation. These platforms provide more control over your website design and functionality but require coding knowledge to take advantage of their features fully. Ultimately, the best website platform for you depends on your specific needs and preferences. It is important to evaluate the level of technical expertise required, the desired level of customisation, and the overall goals for your website. Considering these factors will help you make an informed decision and choose the right platform for you.
Things You MUST Include When Designing A Website
When designing a website, many key elements must be included to ensure it's functional and effective. A clear and intuitive navigation menu is one of the most important things to include in website design. This allows users to easily browse through different pages and find the information they are looking for. Additionally, visually appealing and user-friendly layouts should be incorporated to enhance visitors' overall experience. Ensuring that the website is visually cohesive and appealing across different devices and screen sizes. Visual appeal plays an important role in website usability.
You only have milliseconds to grab the attention and create a first impression. Many businesses are using visuals to attract more people because they tell stories about your website, who you are, and what your website is about. It is also essential to include responsive design, which ensures that the website is compatible and accessible across various devices and screen sizes.
Incorporating appropriate, eye-catching and well-optimised meta tags, titles, and descriptions is also important for search engine optimisation and increasing the visibility of the website. Paying attention to the important aspects of building a website ensures a solid foundation for an effective online presence. Lastly, incorporating social media integration allows visitors to connect and share content easily, increasing the website's reach and exposure. In conclusion, when building a website, it is essential to consider many elements to create a successful and user-friendly website design.
What Is Important When Building A Website?
When building a website, there are many important things to consider as we have outlined a few above but the main thing is to carefully plan and strategise. This involves organising the information in a clear and concise manner, ensuring your website is easy to understand and use. Designing and creating a website means making a plan and putting it into place and this is why your website strategy is so important. You can make a website without creating a website strategy, but a strategy helps you to increase website traffic and reach the goals you've set for your business.
What To Keep In Mind When Building A New Website
Firstly, when building a new website from scratch, deciding whether to make your own website or hire a professional web developer is important. Making your own website may save costs, but learning the necessary skills requires time and effort. It is crucial to consider the goals and target audience of the website as understanding the purpose and demographic will help in designing an effective site. Navigation should be intuitive, and content should be organised logically. Another thing to keep in mind when designing a website from scratch is branding, this plays a huge role in website design as it makes you unique and stand out from other businesses, big and small.
What Are The 3 Types Of Design For Your Website?
It is important to consider the different types of design that can be utilised to enhance user experience and achieve specific goals when designing a website.
The three types of website design are:
Responsive
Adaptive
Mobile-first
Responsive design ensures that the layout of your website adjusts and adapts to different screen sizes, ensuring a consistent experience on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Adaptive design, on the other hand, involves creating multiple versions of your website that are specifically tailored to different screen sizes. This allows for greater control over the appearance of the site on each device. Lastly, the mobile-first design focuses on designing the website primarily for mobile devices, considering the constraints of smaller screens and prioritising important content. Each of these website designs offers unique benefits and can be used in different scenarios, depending on the goals and requirements of your website.
Other Things You May Be Thinking...
Is It Hard To Make A Website From Scratch?
Creating a website from scratch can be a daunting task, especially for those who have little to no experience in web development. The process of designing and building a website from scratch involves multiple steps, including planning, coding, and content creation.
Firstly, you need to determine the purpose and target audience of your website. Then, a design layout must be created, considering factors such as colour scheme, navigation, and overall aesthetics. From there, you must delve into the coding phase, which can be time-consuming and intricate. Familiarity with programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is crucial in order to build a functional and visually appealing website. Additionally, ensuring that the website is responsive and compatible with different devices and browsing platforms further adds to the complexity of the task.
Generating high-quality and relevant content for the website requires a lot of time and effort. So overall, making a website from scratch can be challenging, requiring a combination of technical skills, creativity, and dedication. However, with the availability of resources such as website builders and online tutorials, even individuals with limited web development proficiency can embark on the journey of creating a website from scratch.
Can I Make A Website With No Experience?
Many people wonder if they can make a website with no experience. The truth is it is possible to create a website without any prior experience. With the advancements in technology, there are now numerous platforms and tools available that allow even beginners to easily build a website.
Platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace offer user-friendly interfaces and drag-and-drop features that simplify website creation. These platforms also provide a wide range of customisable templates and themes to choose from, allowing you to create a unique and professional-looking website even if you have no design skills. There are countless online tutorials, videos, and forums available that provide step-by-step guidance on website development. These resources can help you learn the basics of creating web pages, integrating images and videos, and even implementing more advanced features like e-commerce functionality. While having prior experience certainly helps, it is not a prerequisite for building a website. With the right tools, resources, and a bit of patience, anyone can create a website from scratch.
Ready To Build Your website?
Hopefully, this blog has helped you to better understand building a website from scratch and the things you need to consider when designing your website. If you want to learn more about building your website, there are plenty of ways we at Greene Creatives can support you. From our monthly membership or a 1:1 session so we can spend an hour going over your website issues and struggles to a done for you where I can build your website for you if it gets too stressful. Get in touch today!
