PR Tips | How to start designing a website
How do you begin a massive web design project? To outsiders, it often seems like such a huge and subjective task that they’re simply overwhelmed. But there is a roadmap to web design, and, if you follow it closely, you’ll find that designing is really just a series of steps that will eventually lead you to a shiny new website that you’ll love.
To get you started, here are the first four steps.
Step 1: Know your audience.
Who do you want to come to your website and why? This is the question you need to answer before doing anything else. Before you even think about content and layout, you first need to know your visitors. Only then can you develop a site that will appeal to them.
Step 2: Define the website’s purpose.
What’s the point of your site? Are you trying to sell something? Are you trying to convey information? Or are you simply trying to legitimize your business? The design needs to dovetail with the website’s purpose.
Step 3: Assess your existing site.
If you already have an existing site, why do you want a new one? What’s currently working and what’s not working? When redesigning the site, you want to keep the good parts while fixing the broken ones.
Step 4: Study the competition.
To build a site that sets you apart, you must first understand your competition. Can you incorporate your competitors’ strengths into your site’s design? Conversely, can you avoid their weaknesses?
Once you’ve taken these four steps, you’re now ready to move to phase two of the design process.