We’ve put together this handy checklist of 26 things to consider when designing your website.
- Domain. Choose a web address (domain) that people can remember easily
- Host. Choose a reliable hosting provider. See our hosting page for who we recommend.
- Content Management System. Decide if you have any preference on which technology to use. We use WordPress, as you can read about on our Web Design page.
- Purpose. What is the purpose of your website?
- Layouts. What layouts and colours do you like? Why not browse ones you like from around the web and include those in your message when you get in touch on our contact page.
- Tree. Draw your site as a tree on a piece of paper. Which pages will be linked in your menu and where will each page take your visitor next?
- Content. What type of content do you want to show visitors to your website? Photos, videos, products to buy? Keep in mind Google will find you easier if the descriptions of your content contain the keywords you think people will search by.
- Audience – who are they? Are they people who will prefer reading, watching, listening to content? What will they expect to find? Eg if you’re an electrician, the audience might expect to see your ceritifcations.
- Advertising. Do you need to include advertising either to help pay for your site, or to advertise your products?
- Pop ups. Are you going to pop up a message asking your visitors to signup for something? Choose the timing carefully to not put visitors off. We use techniques that catch people on their way out so they can browse in peace.
- Clean. Keep your design looking clean and professional.
- Buttons. What call to action buttons are you going to have? People like buttons to tap as an action.
- Backgrounds. You can have stunning backgrounds showing around the edges of your website or have content in the foreground transparent so you can see the background through it. Choose something that isn’t overpowering your content.
- Images. Choose images that you own or are free stock images (see our Deals page). Ensure they’re cropped to fit where you want them.
- Easy navigation. Keep the navigation obvious so visitors can find their way around your website without having to search, otherwise they’ll leave.
- Unique. What ideas have you got that will help your site stand out from others? Maybe you offer a personalised product, such as engraved pencil boxes.
- Fresh. Websites must change regularly in terms of the content you feature. This keeps Google ranking you higher up and your visitors interested in coming back.
- Optimised. If you want to be found on search engines you need to know the tricks of the trade. Or DADD can do these optimisations for you.
- Cross browser support. People use lots of different web browsers and devices. We offer to check the top 6 in our standard packages.
- Width. Websites are wider than before because screens are becoming super high resolution and more like the shape of cinema films.
- Social media. Which social media sites are most relevant for your business? Not everyone needs to be on twitter. Some are suited better to Facebook. We can help you decide.
- Typography & fonts. What do you want the text to look like? Handwriting? Newspaper block headlines? It massively changes the impact and appeal of your site to use fonts that fit your audience preferences. Whatever you choose it needs to be readable, not just pretty!
- Registration. Do you want visitors to register for access to your website? Maybe you offer member only downloads or product shipping from your shopping site?
- Tracking. Don’t forget to link your website to Google Analytics so you can see where your visitors are spending their time. This can be used to monitor conversion of campaigns too.
- Security. Ensure your website has been made secure. Hackers love pinching your site to generate free web traffic that earns them money.
- Footer. A good footer will help your visitor find other useful parts of your site and is as important as getting your main menus spot on.
