Website Essentials

There are not too many more moments to a business owner more exciting than starting a web redesign project.  It is a new canvas to aesthetically redeem your current site and implement the latest tools of functionality.

With this all this potential, we then recognize that the dreams of prosperity suddenly become within our grasp.Before you can jump on to the canvas and dive into all that code, you have to figure out what you want out of your website. For instance, if you are an entertainer, you may envision a gallery with lots of multimedia. In which case you are going to have a different approach than that of a business that pumps out news day to day.

Once you decide on the direction of your business and what you want to convey to your audience, you can than begin to “wire frame’ your new website. All this means is getting out a piece of paper and laying out categories and sub categories. These basically indicates what you offer in almost a table of contents format.

Now we are getting somewhere! Once laid out on paper you can see your landing page of your site in your head. You can see the functional structure. Now you can envision the vibrant colors or subtle tones that make your visitors want to stay and look around.
This is the big picture and scope of your redesign project. Our next move is attention to detail with your design.

Detail vs. Clutter

Now, in promotion of minimalistic and simplistic design, there is a huge difference between attention to detail in design and simply cluttering a design with unnecessary details. The basic formula is this; include only what is necessary, and make everything necessary beautiful. Paying attention to the detail of a design means you consciously examine and polish every element of your design–whether simple or complicated. It means you only include what is necessary, and you make necessary elements beautiful. I could write an article about how to clutter a website, but there are too many examples available. Simplicity is a great way to focus on what is important in your design and then really make it shine.

The devil is in the details

More often than not designers second guess themselves as to the quality of the look of the website. Before I get into the aspects of what my client wants, the first thing I get asked is “What would make this look better?”, to which I reply, polish the details.

Some tips

Lastly, I’d like to suggest a few tips that will you learn to more effectively pay attention to the small details of your site design.
• Thoroughly analyze designs you think are impressive. Make a list of what makes them so great. Study them, talk to the designer, and learn all you can about the process, the motivation, and more.
• Zoom in. A one word solution that will help you identify flaws or mediocre design lapses. After you have finished your design, zoom in–and I mean close. Look at all the spacing, colors, shapes, vector graphics, etc. Get really close and inspect all the details.
• Leave it alone, then return to it. After you have your site designed and you think is wonderful, leave it for a few days. Do this and you are sure to catch any small details you overlooked the first time.
• Get feedback from others. Many times we cannot see something because we simply have been looking at it for a long time. If we bring someone else on the scene and ask for feedback, most likely they will spot errors or have suggestions that we otherwise would have overlooked.

This is just a short essay on a web essential. Your web site is your store front. Treat it as such and you increase your chances of customers staying to see what you have to offer.