Collaborative post. Are you thinking of starting your own blog? Maybe you want to create an online shop to sell your handmade goods? Either way, you will need a website. It took a while before I set up mine. I tend to freak out when it comes to anything computer related that’s new. But, I do wish I’d been brave enough to start my blog earlier. I fumbled and asked other blogger friends for help but I managed to piece together a simple website for my blog in the end. However, designing a beautiful website that attracts visitors and generates sales is a little different. In this post, we look at how to design a website.
How to Design a Website
If the thought of setting up a site fills you with dread don’t forget, you don’t have to do it yourself! I know, how handy is that. In fact, it’s not as expensive as some might think either. Shop around and see what companies will offer for the prices they are quoting. You’ll find plenty of website designers that can take the stress off your hands and get the site set up in a jiffy. If only I’d heard about them when I first started out.
Whether you want to design the site yourself or get help these are areas you’ll need to consider:
Define the Purpose
Before jumping into anything else, you’ll have to lay out the purpose of your website. Some questions that can help you during the stage include:
What are you trying to achieve?
Who is your target audience?
What type of actions do you want your visitors to take when they visit the website?
Once you’ve answered these questions and any others that might help you define the goal of your website, it’s time to think about brand identity.
Decide Your Brand’s Identity
You want to create a stunning website that is easy-to-use without losing your brand’s identity. When thinking about how to design a website, consider the colour scheme, typography, imagery and the type of voice you want your website/brand to have. Forbes recommends creating an interesting, memorable, and engaging website user interface. “Make sure your small business website interface leaves a positive impression that drives results.”
The Entrepreneur states that a website “should be responsive, fast and engaging so that viewers will just enjoy the browsing process on it. Clear and easy navigation along with the relevant content are the two main things that will add value to your business website.” This is something I would agree with in my 11+ years of experience writing a blog. If a site is easy to use and responds quickly and is engaging readers are less likely to lose interest and click elsewhere.
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Choose a Platform.
If you want to create a blog or a brochure website, I’d recommend WordPress. It’s simple, user-friendly and intuitive. You can choose to pick from one of the thousands of themes already available or hire a website designer near you to craft a stunning WordPress website.
You’ll need to consider a web host provider if you are a blogger or plan to sell your products worldwide. These companies differ but you’ll need one that offers support if an issue arises and also provides an SSL certificate in the package.
If you also want to sell products online, Magento is a popular option. This open-source platform allows you to fully customise your website. Magento is responsive, secure and a Magento website will grow with your business. It helps to know that when using Magento you can create several stores under one installation.
Launch it!
Once all of this is done and you are happy with the way your website looks and feels then it’s time to launch it. Don’t forget to promote the launch and create some buzz around your brand before launching the website.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my post how to design a website. This will help get you started.
Are you tech-savvy? Would you attempt to create your own site or consider getting help?
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I admit I paid someone to design my website. I didn’t know what I was doing. I need to update my website again with more of my personality.
I wish I had, honestly, the stress I put myself through trying to do it was insane.
Building a website involves a lot of components. It is good to have a strategy for designing a site. This is a great list to help getting started.
It is important to have an idea of how you’d like it designed. Getting help can sometimes be he better option where you lack the expertise.
Some really great tips in here for anyone looking to design their website
I created my own blog, but I think if I had a business and needed a website, I would probably hire someone to put it together for me.
It does make sense unless of course you know what you’re doing. It is a great way to get a good looking site set up.
I really enjoyed reading this post, thanks for sharing these tips. It’s important to have a responsive site.
Thanks Tasheena. I’m glad you liked the post.
I’ve always wanted to learn because I feel like a lot of pre-made templates are very limiting. Thank you so much for sharing!
Really helpful article. I am seriously considering starting a second blog but I haven’t gotten to narrowing down my topics to fit a single niche. I am saving this post for reference. Thank you for your tips.
I’d consider myself quite tech savvy but I did have to research a lot of things myself. I wish i’d gone self hosted on WordPress earlier than I did as Blogger was great but not quite the same x
I have been thinking of switching to Word Press… for two reasons, and I’m not sure which will won. 1. to possibly sell my blog or 2. to keep it and get it moving again. I’ve been lax for a couple of years on posting and forming partnerships.
I use wordpress and I’m happy with it. I’d always recommend it to those who want to start a blog.
We can make a lot of mistakes in setting up a blog if we don’t plan and if we don’t have the right tools.
Having an Identity and a purpose is important. Blogging can be overwhelming and it’s not an easy road so having a purpose will always get you back on track
These are great tips, it’s so overwhelming when you start to do your first one. I’ve made a few now and it’s definitely more fun now I’m a bit more practiced
These are some very helpful tips on how to design a website, it sure takes some time but it’s worth it for sure, having purpose makes a difference
It sure is. It can be a good idea to get help sometimes though.
This is such a really great and very informative article I enjoy reading this! This will help me a lot for creating my own blog!
So many are opting to write a blog. It does help to have an idea of set up.
I have learned the most important part of writing your blog is to get your information on your site first. Once you do that the design can be done afterward. I have always had someone else do my website look because I am not too techy in that aspect. I wish back then when I started 13 years ago I had known that the content should be first and foremost. Then I could have started sooner.
I do agree content is very important. Badly written posts that don’t make sense don’t attract readers.
This post is very informative and I love the tips. It will help a lot of people who want to start blogging.
It can help bloggers as well as those looking to open a business.
great tips and questions to think about! Building a website is not as simple as some people think.
When I decided to start a blog, I planned on building it on my own. But I got transferred (unbeknownst to me initially) to sales. They talked me into having them build the site. I knew at some point I would be able to figure it out but who knew how long that would take! So from that standpoint I’m glad I did. It’s been up for almost 6 months and likely still wouldn’t be if I did on my own.
These are great tips. I remember when I first started with my website I needed to know computer languages to create templates and each page. It is so much easier to design and create a website now
It actually takes a lot to design a website and your thoughts are absolutely good points. I will surely take these tips on my next web design project.
That’s great Sol. I hope it goes well.
I didn’t design my own website and probably wouldn’t. My brother is a web designer and it takes a lot of work but these are great tips for those who wants to.
Maureen