Even for the design of a website the rule applies: the better the design, the easier it will be to create. It does not matter whether you are building a website for your company or for yourself or that you are perhaps developing it for someone else: the design of a page is a fundamental element for success. This is why it is advisable to budget enough time to find the right idea, conceive and improve the website. To find an appropriate and compelling structure for your page, you need to consider the following points. At the platform of web design Vancouver, we are explaining to you the procedure and functions of web design.

What is the function of the web page?

Before creating a page design it should be clear what you want to achieve and in how long. It would therefore be useful to ask: what is the purpose of your site? The answer is the basis of the entire project, so each component of the homepage should orient itself towards the success of the set goal. For example, a website can have the purpose of increasing the degree of popularity of the contents, therefore promoting or informing. If the page is e-commerce, the main goal will be to get new customers or sell more products. A website is generally the business card of a company or an institution; It is important that the purpose of the site is kept in mind during the design and creation phase.

What kind of content suits your purpose best?

Think carefully about what are the topics to be presented on your site and how they can ideally be treated. Is the page mainly based on text or is the content mainly composed of images and videos? Do users need to register to fully use the site? Should a payment system be integrated? Is a comment function required to allow users to give feedback or not? By asking yourself these questions, you can quickly determine how expensive your project is, how long it will take and how much the costs are.

Get an idea of what measures and what contents are needed to achieve your goal, through brainstorming, research, and exchange of views between colleagues. This way you will have a complete picture of the designed website, which will make it easier for you in the following steps.

The target audience of the website and user expectations

Before creating a web design Vancouver you must know who is the target audience of your website? Define it. Always keep your goal in mind: if you promote a product or service, you must define your target audience and adapt it to the design of the site, even if it is an information portal or a forum on a specific topic. Ultimately, whether you want to propose a commercial offer or choose an informative one, every website manager should know which group you are trying to involve. In fact, only those who know their users can shape their page according to these parameters.

In many areas, standards have been set for content and its presentation. Thus, for example, on the online sales pages, you will always find a search function with practical filters. Each sector and each reference group has its own characteristics that distinguish the contents and presentation on the web. It is important to know this type of user expectation, especially if your site deviates from current patterns.

The structure of the sitemap

If you are creating web design Vancouver here is some indications to decide the structure of the web page. To carry out this task, it is advisable to create a sitemap, which is a diagram that reproduces the structure of the pages and the links of the individual pages. To get a general overview, view the hierarchy of your internet page with pen and paper or directly on your PC. By doing so you will not only organize the content of your site, but at the same time, you will determine its navigability. In the sitemap, you establish the links of the site, sort each page according to their importance and create a short description of the scheduled contents. Obviously, the structure of the pages must remain clear and must not contain too many sub-pages for each category.

The layout of the website

Linked to the creation of the sitemap is the draft of the website layout. In this case, it is not a question of the final design of the site, but only of the ordering and function of the contents on the individual pages. By choosing the layout, you will decide for example where to insert the menu, how users reach the sub-items of the menu, and where the website logo is placed. The other elements to deal with in the layout draft will depend on the content. Other potential functions of the site to integrate and reflect on are:

• A comment function for visitors
• Links to social media, social media buttons, with which users can share and show their appreciation for the contents of the site
• Sponsor ads, banners, and videos
• Affiliate links to partner companies that you promote on your site

In addition, you will have to think ahead if you want to optimize the display of your website for different devices (pc, tablet, smartphone, etc.). Generally adapting the graphics of the site to different display sizes has advantages and often it will be necessary to reorder the individual components of the page. The sitemap and layout are always linked to each other and must be planned from the beginning in the design of the individual elements.

Professional web design vs. ready-made sites and CMS

Nowadays internet pages are no longer just built by professionals. If before creating and building a website it was still necessary to have computer programming skills, today even amateurs can try their hand at the enterprise. Those who have no experience in web design usually rely on ready-made website templates based on the Content Management System (CMS).

A CMS offers users a graphic surface with which the individual components of the page are created and sorted. Knowing a programming language is no longer necessary, although it can often help. The number of functions made available by the individual systems varies according to the programs; the pre-existing features in a CMS depending on the chosen provider which generally offers different packages. The higher the price of an offer, the greater the number of features included. Alongside these, there are also free ready-made sites. Unfortunately, however, their features are generally limited and only simple web pages can be created.

If you want to create a professional homepage, you should know the HTML and CSS languages with which you will have maximum flexibility. However, to develop an error-free and professional-looking page directly from the source code, you need industry experience. Furthermore, maintenance and updating are more complicated than with CMS.

You also have the option of entrusting the creation of your web page to a professional. Obviously, even in this case, you will need to be aware of what needs your page must meet. Finally, it will be up to you, the person in charge of the agency you have entrusted to approach, in as much detail as possible, to your expectations. In any case, a design studied in detail has a positive influence both on the process and on the final result of the website.

Give yourself time

As soon as you know what content your website will offer, you will have thought carefully about the structure and its creation, decided whether you will create the page yourself or hire someone else, you can finally establish the timing. In the case of larger projects, you can decide to manage the deadlines by stages (starting for example from the production of the basic texts for the contents and then moving on to the realization of the basic design, etc.). In any case, time management should contain all the most important points and remain clear at the same time. Always keep in mind that individual sections, in some circumstances, need to be adapted or improved and a good roadmap provides enough room for such corrections. Furthermore, the timelines must be updated regularly and adapted to the new elements of the project.

The next steps

If you have considered and worked out all these aspects, you will now have completed the basic structure of your website. Subsequently, you will have to take care of the realization of the single points, paying attention to some things.

In future articles on the topic of “web design fundamentals”, you will find out how to make your page easy to use and what to consider when using logos and colors in web design.