Website design isn’t just about aesthetics. It involves the combination of various skills — from design layout to colour combinations to copywriting and typography and finally being able to communicate its purpose/goal. In all, it is a place where you want to create an interface not only between creative and eye-catching aesthetics but also a place that communicates functionality and allows easy access to its content. But to achieve aesthetically pleasing but purpose-driven results from your website you must have a clear direction, a direction that will focus on every aspect of your design with its goal in mind. So you must work towards strategic website design.
BUT WHAT IS STRATEGIC WEBSITE DESIGN?
Strategic design is combining your business goals with your messaging, marketing strategy, design elements, and branding into one consolidated message. You want your business goals to be communicated through design, content and layout.
You are not just designing a platform that looks good and is usable and accessible. You’re designing a platform that will help you accomplish your business objectives.
Whether you are creating your website from scratch, buying a pre-designed template or getting a custom-designed website with a website designer, you cannot overlook the strategy for your website.
Here are the 6 Steps to Implement a Strategic Website Design
1. Define your business goals:
One of the first important things to do before starting work on a Website design project is to be clear about your client or business goals. What are you / your business trying to achieve with the new website or by upgrading your current website? What is your website’s main purpose? A clear direction will help you establish the purpose of your website. We need to remember that the role of a website is not just to look attractive but to drive its functions. For example: Take a look at the BBC website – it is minimalistic but content-driven as its main function is to deliver the news. But if you take BODEN a UK clothing brand its goal is not to deliver a lot of content but to impress visitors with creative clothing, showcase a gallery and advertise the company’s products.
2. Know your audience:
For your website to truly support your business goals, you need to know who is the website for – “target audience”. The way your website should look and function should take into account the many demographics that can influence your design like age, gender, profession and technical understanding.
For example, A computer game website like MINECRAFT for younger customers needs a different style /design and usability than that of a financial services business.
Not sure? Check out how to create a Customer avatar!
One needs to understand that in today’s digital world, people have less patience and do not want to be rummaging around your website to see whether or not it can provide them with the right solution. So it’s highly important to make it user-friendly and connect them instantly with their problem, engaging directly with their pain points.
3. Determine your Brand Image:
As business owners or designers, we tend to get a little too excited by the latest trends and sometimes implement them without thinking about what sort of image /message the website should be conveying. Whilst, glossy images, gradients and reflective colours may work for some websites, they may not be right for your brand. So it’s important to think about colour and typography – the feel you wish to create and the emotions you wish to evoke. You need to think about how your design will accentuate the personality and character of your brand.
For example: A sustainable food waste recycling website like THE COMPOST KITCHEN showcases a lot of earthy green and brown tones and highlights an environmentally friendly recycling process.
4. Outline the Pages you want to have on your website:
You do not need 10 pages to convey the right message and your goal to your audience. It is important to reflect on the goal of your website and the goal of each page and how they coincide thus implementing a strategic design.
For example: The goal of your website may be to get people to book a consultation call but perhaps the goal of your blog page is to lead people to sign up for your email list. So when you understand and map out these differences, you can then be intentional about the type of content that will go on individual pages. Also based on what type of service you are offering will determine how many pages your website need. For example: A construction website can do with just 5 pages Home, Services, Projects, About, and Contact.
5. Create a Website Flow:
Understanding your website user’s journey is key to designing a better user flow on your website. The solution is to understand how users interact with your website. When users/target audiences are ready to learn more or take action, is the path clear for them? Or is their journey disrupted by a broken or disconnected experience?
What are your visitor’s needs?
Think about problems they want to be resolved when on your website.
What design features are necessary to help them educate themselves?
Do they have any concerns about your product that you can address?
6. Test, Measure, Learn and Improve:
As with all things in branding, your website is not a final version done once and for all. But rather, an evolving tool that is used to connect with your right audience. You can always make improvements, and the very nature of a website will allow you to introduce these at any time. This is because a website isn’t a magazine that you print and sell: once a magazine copy is out of your hands, you cannot make any changes or fix any spelling mistakes or errors. You can always make improvements – meaning, as your business grows and evolves, so should your website. So using the results of your measurements, you can identify problem areas. Perhaps your visitors cannot find sign-in, or an important page on your website isn’t getting enough visits. Whatever the problem is, there will always be a way to improve things
Conclusion:
If your business needs a new website and/or rebranding an existing one, remember that it’s not just about the design and aesthetics. There are no shortcuts to developing your business and brand image. Strategic Website Design is the key to a long-lasting brand that will create the right impact and not just follow the latest trends.
Think about your business, the services you are offering and the solutions your product is creating. Think about the target audience. What will work and what is expected? How can your design be best used to fulfil your website’s purpose? Don’t just build a beautiful website: but rather make a website that will connect!
Would you like to read a bit more on WEBSITE CREATION – Check out the following.
As a small business or start-up – Do I really need a website?
SEO – What do you need to know about – SEO while creating a website?
Website Design Terms You Should Know – Before designing a website?
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