Determining Your Website Design Needs

To help you determine your website design, its best to use pencil and paper to record your answers as you follow the recommend strategy below:

Define the purpose of your website

 Every website has a purpose or reason for existing. The more thorough and honest statement you give, the more successful your website and design will be. Ask questions similar to these:

  • Why do I need a website?

  • What is the purpose of my website?

  • What do I want to accomplish with my website?

  • How much am I prepared to spend on a website?

It’s OK to ask any question. And it’s OK to add, omit, or combine similar questions. Once you get a purpose set, it will help you identify other requirements.

List the requirements of your website

Just exactly what do you want your website to achieve? Name requirements and the reason for them as suggested below:

  • eCommerice—I need people to purchase services and pay for them on my website

  • Contact form—I want people to be able to contact me

  • Photo album—I want to show off my hobby

  • CMS software—I want to be able to update my own site

  • Site builder program—I want to design my own  site

  • My business logo—I want to develop a brand

  • Video—I want to show examples of my products

  • Blogg—I want to write about my great products and services

  • Happy and colorful—I’m educating kidds

You can probably ask more questions. Be sure to write them all down and then answer them. You can rank them to be sure you get the ones you can’t live without when you design your site. The others you can design or purchase when your time your budget allows it.

Gather all your content

Gather and sort every bit of content you may have to put on your website: text, photos, quotes, etc. Everything! Your content will be one of the most important aspects of your design. It will allow you to get a feel of how many pages you will need, plus allow you to create an organized flow of information that will have meaning and be easy to navigate.

Set a theme for your site

A theme gives you a unified subject and distinct feel for your web site. It allows the mood to be set when you communicate with your visitors. What colors do you want to use? Language? Voice? Attitude or frame of mind? It all goes to make up your distinct and unifying quality for your idea.

Develop the site’s structure

The structure establishes the framework that holds all your content together in a meaningful way. It puts your content in the right place and keeps it there so it can be viewed properly. Use pencil and paper to draw sketches of different layouts. 

Once you have your completed strategy in place, it will guide you to design your website yourself. Or, if you hire a designer, it will ensure that all your request will be incorporated.

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