Web Design

Two Worlds Web Design Beliefs and Practice

Everyone needs food, shelter, love, and a website.

Websites lead the top of the brand necessity list-no longer confined to the desktop. They travel to wherever the consumer is, on her iPad or smartphone, to the mall, on a hike, or under her pillow. Websites have made every company accessible by almost anyone anywhere.

With engaging content and inviting interfaces, websites have the potential to bring a brand to life. Websites may just be the next best thing to reality, and in many cases, they are more efficient, more user-friendly, and faster. The best websites know who their visitors are, and give them a reason to come back again and again. Videos have started to populate many websites with storytelling and testimonials. Several specialists work collaboratively to build a site, including graphic and user experience designers, information architects, developers, content authors, project managers, and usability engineers. Search engine experts have become a critical part of the team in order to get high rankings in search engines. Incorporating an SEO strategy into website development is essential, not optional. A website is a living, breathing brand tool that needs to be cared for overtime. Businesses need to ensure the website is up to date and reflects the company’s message and identity at all times. This should precede all significant other marketing efforts because this is where all roads lead.

Process: Website design

Initiate plan

Reaffirm business goals. Establish team, roles, and responsibilities. Review brand brief and positioning. Identify critical success factors. Develop workflow, timeline+budget. Establish communications protocol. Conduct competitive audits+SEO analysis. Establish best practices.

Understand the users

Identify users+build user profiles. Assess user goals. Gain insights from key users. Create site use scenarios. Consider the mobile experience. Consider social experience.

Build content strategy

Conduct keyword search. Clarify content management responsibilities. Forecast 12-month content rollout. Develop SEO content strategy. Evaluate possible social media outlets. Develop information architecture. Map content to approved navigation.

Create prototypes

Decide on information architecture. Examine interface possibilities. Build site wireframe. Conduct usability testing. Refine prototype based on usability results. Retest to measure improvement. Map content to wireframe. Start to outline development plan.

Visualize

Review brand brief+creative brief+brand guidelines. Design master pages and social media pages. Consider all relevant devices. Utilize usability design principles. Produce all text, photography, and video. Refine and finalize design for consistency. Optimize content for search engines.

Website production

Confirm development plan. Code the front end. Implement CMS. Implement on-page SEO. Populate site with content. Implement website reporting structure. Launch beta for key decision-makers. Test design+functionality among browsers and devices. Make adjustments as necessary.

Launch and monitor

Promote site launch internally. Promote site launch externally. Disseminate user-friendly guidelines. Launch website. Implement analytics assessment. Communicate successes and impact.

Website basics

Keep site goals, audience needs, key messages, and brand personality central to each and every decision. Anticipate future growth. Consider future growth. Consider all platforms and devices. Site structure should be a reflection of organizational structure. Begin site structure with content, not a screen design. Write content specifically for the web. Do not force content into counter-intuitive groupings. Conduct usability testing. Don’t wait to make it perfect. Get it out there and constantly make it better. Give users a reason to return. Observe etiquette. Alert visitors where special technology is needed, where a screen may load slowly, or where a link leaves your site. Comply with ADA: arrange for visually impaired visitors to use software to read the site aloud or greatly magnify text. At each stage ask: Is the message clear? Is the content accessible? Is the experience positive? Confront internal political agendas that may sabotage site goals.