HOW TO DO Web Design AND Development SO A WEBSITE LOOKS GREAT
Initial impressions are irreversible. What do you anticipate a visitor’s first automatic response to be when they arrive at your website? You need to know how to do web design and development because it’s crucial to have your site in order. This is because you only have a brief window of time to make a good first impression – less than 8 seconds, to be exact.
The look (design) and feel (UX)of your website are the first things users notice when they visit. Is your messaging distinctive? Is it simple to understand where to click? Are the CTAs clear and audible? A well-designed website not only looks amazing but also functions well by offering relevant links, interesting material, and easy navigation so your visitors can find what they are searching for.
Your content marketing will fail if a person visits your site and leaves right away because of the layout, design, or difficulty in doing the activities they want to. Your website can soar or fall and burn in the span of a single blink.
Here are our top 7 suggestions on how to do web design and development to help you build the website you want
Responsive web design
Ensure that your website is optimised for mobile
Nowadays, it’s increasingly possible that users will access your website via a mobile phone or tablet. Mobile web traffic has surpassed desktop traffic and is continuing to rise. Mobile optimisation is vital for website owners.
The term “mobile optimisation” refers to the process of creating a website that is responsive to mobile platforms. This means that the layout and design of the website will be modified to fit the smaller screens of mobile devices, and the user experience (UX) will be pleasant and simple to use on a small, handheld device. You should think about making your website mobile-responsive right away. It pays to build your desktop website in a way that can be easily and comfortably converted for mobile since it’s crucial for your mobile site to share the same brand identity and personality as the desktop version.
Minimise page loading time
Speed up page loading and boost user interaction
No matter how polished your website appears, it doesn’t matter. The viewer will leave your page if they have to wait longer than 10 seconds for it to load. Additionally, if your website takes a long time to load, Google will rank it lower, burying it in the search results. The design and programming of the page will have an impact on loading times, just like SEO. There are several techniques to increase the performance of your page, including code optimisation, fewer redirection, image optimisation, and more.
Custom VS Template design
Pick the style that best suits your requirements and budget
Using a template design or building a custom design from the start? This is one of the choices you’ll have to make when building or redesigning your website. Even the most amateur designer may easily construct a website that looks professional thanks to the enormous selection of website templates and DIY tools available today.
The possibilities are endless when creating a personalised website. However, in terms of style, layout, image placement, number of pages, use of distinctive components like custom video and animations, and the general operation of the website. A template-based design won’t allow you the full degree of freedom that custom sites do. Custom websites, on the other hand, require significantly more time, labour, and financial resources. So, if this is the route you want to take then it’s probably best to contact our website designers in Swansea.
Ultimately, each business owner must consider the advantages and disadvantages of custom vs template design to determine which is ideal for their requirements.
Search engine optimisation guidelines
Make it simple for users to find you
Okay, so while SEO is invisible to the untrained eye, it is essential to a successful website experience. How simple (or difficult) it is for potential buyers to reach your website during a search will depend on your SEO approach. Avoid the usual marketing error of concentrating just on your website design. Do this by paying attention to how your website will perform in search engines. After all, if no one can find your site, what good is it having a professional-looking one? So make sure to concentrate on writing titles and meta descriptions for all of your SEO-friendly web pages.
The content and design of your website will be directly impacted by your SEO strategy. With this in mind, it is important when thinking of how to do web design and development to plan your SEO before you consider fonts and graphics.
Don't be afraid of fonts
Try out some intriguing, attention-grabbing fonts
Sans Serif fonts lack extending elements that could make them difficult to read on a computer screen. Sans Serif fonts were traditionally used by website designers to maintain a clean aesthetic and facilitate simple online reading. Web designers abhorred any font that was excessively ornate or crowded.
Our Swansea web design team are now, however, enjoying the opportunity to experiment with innovative, fascinating, and eye-catching fonts thanks to greatly better screen resolutions. Serif fonts are resurfacing in website design, and there is no shortage of font styles with over 43,000 fonts currently available online. Don’t be afraid to try out different font types and sizes. You can even use underlining, highlights, and vibrant typefaces, which are all popular. Always keep in mind that the font you choose should complement the style and culture of your business while still being simple to read.
Background pictures make your homepage memorable
Attract attention
Instead of being aural or experienced learners, the majority of individuals learn best visually. That likely contributes to the difference between the 80% of people who remember what they see and the 20% of people who remember what they read. When designing your homepage, keep this important information in mind. Which background will you employ? Will the attention-grabbing element be a hero header or a single colour tone with a bold heading? Whatever you decide, make sure it is consistent with the distinctive character and purpose of your company.
Rethink simplicity
Keep it straightforward but interesting
Nobody loves a busy website since it’s difficult to look at and even more difficult to use. Your website should be well-organised, clutter-free, and excellent at guiding users in the right direction. Humans have expectations about how things should be, and when those expectations are realised, people are more likely to feel at ease and content. This is all a question of “cognitive fluency.”
Try to provide an experience on your website that your visitors will naively anticipate, but don’t be monotonous! Change things up a bit and showcase the uniqueness of your brand. However, even a “changed up” design should uphold some standards. Links are still links, and they are positioned in blatantly striking areas. Drop-down menus can still use hamburger icons. Maintain simplicity, but make it your special brand of simplicity. Make your customers feel welcome and at ease while capturing their interest.
Conclusion on how to do web design and development
Another thing to think about is that website visitors will form an immediate opinion of your page, which will impact its success. However, you also experience a physical response to your website, and it’s crucial to pay attention to this. Naturally, it’s more difficult to predict your response once you’ve spent hours, days, weeks, or even months! examining every last aspect of your website. This is why you should occasionally take a break, let it sit for a day or two, and then return to it with a new perspective. You’ll be more receptive to what your instinct is trying to tell you. You can also ask friends, family, and coworkers for their opinions.
Of course, once your site is online, you’ll need to continuously make tweaks to optimise it and keep an eye on your statistics to track its performance.
All of this could seem a little intimidating if you’re not a web designer. But keep in mind that there is no one solution on how to do web design and development. One strategy for finding inspiration and ideas that will guide the design process is to look at what other people are doing. But, it will be much simpler for you to work with a designer and create the website you want. As long as you are aware of the components that go into a well-designed website.
