5 Easy Steps You Must Know About The Web Design Process Before You Hire An Agency

Hiring a web design company can sometimes feel like a daunting task.

The average website typically starts from $2,000 up to $50,000, depending on the size and scope. With these steps, I can give you the quick ‘behind the scenes’ look into the information that could save you thousands when building a website.

I’ve been building websites for over a decade, with that experience I’ve broken down how the web design process and simplified it into 5 steps.

Learning these steps will help you avoid pitfalls most people run into whenever working with an agency and could save you time and money in avoidable mistakes.

How does a website and hosting work?

There needs to be some basic understanding of how a website works before we talk about the process you’ll follow with an agency.

The first two things to understand is the difference between a domain registrar and a web host.

A domain registrar is a company that buys and/or sells internet domain names ie: “www.example.com”

A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the services that hosts, or stores, information on computers called servers.

Popular hosting and domain registry are Godaddy, Host Gator, Blue Host, Namecheap, and Domain.com.

I always explain web design as if it’s a house. This website represents your house on the web.

The domain registrar is the real estate agent who sells you a domain name like “www.example.com”.

This is simply your address people go to whenever they want to visit your house.

A domain name creates a point, or location, that your “house” will be located which is unique to everyone.

Users will search for your website by typing in your domain name which will send a signal to the domain and access the specific web host connected to the domain.

Now, that we landed on your website we open the door inside and access the web host.

These are the computer servers that “store” all the lines of code that load your whenever someone visits your website.

Each of these services carry a monthly fee.

These are two services that are, in most situations, better managed by the same company. Consolidating as many accounts as possible makes for easier management.

You can purchase separate hosting and a domain registry by different companies that specialize in the needs of your business. This is usually done depending on what you need.

After picking a domain and connecting a hosting service to it, we are ready to create a website.

Now, imagine building a website exactly how you would design the interior of the house in the previous example mentioned above.

There are different types of interiors we can choose from before we get started. These are called Content Management Systems (CMS).

A Content Management System (CMS) is a software tool that lets the user create, change, and publish content on the internet.

These systems are installed like applications on a phone and download directly onto the servers that your hosting provider offers. Some of the most popular CMS would be WordPress, Joomla, Wix, Squarespace, and Drupal.

Each CMS has its own features that set it apart with different ones excelling in different areas depending on your goals. With most of my web design jobs, I’ve used and would highly recommend WordPress.

Over 33% of every website uses WordPress as a content management system.

This open-source platform helps the user navigate the ‘backend’ of your website with minimal technical expertise. With more customization over any other CMS, it’s no wonder the biggest brands use WordPress. (Facebook, Disney, TechCrunch, The New York Times, Mercedes-Benz, and Sony).

Once this is installed and you login into the dashboard of WordPress and you’ll have full control over the design, the look, and the content you publish on your website.

Another great benefit of using WordPress is the overwhelming collection of templates and stylesheets.

These are basically pre-designed layouts and features that are often tailored to specific niches such as photographers, roofers, plumbers, hair salons, gyms, restaurants, contractors, etc…

There are themes that provide drag-and-drop features that make finding the perfect style you want quick and easy. After finding the design that matches your specifications, just add in all the features, media, and content to complete the entire process.

Now that you have a basic understanding of how a website works, we can take you step-by-step through the typical design process.

Let’s look at the process we’ve used over and over to generate beautiful websites and happy clients.

How does the website design process work and what should I know before I start?

We break it down into 5 easy steps that go over the typical web design process when working with an agency. Understand these steps will help create the perfect website and avoid those costly mistakes during the design process.

If throughout these steps you’re interested in learning more about how we can build you a custom website call us at: (1-314-384-5025) to speak with a web strategist!

5-Step Web Design Process

1. Have A Strategy With Clear Goals

   This first step is incredibly important.

   Consider this as a foundation for your website that will inevitably set the groundwork for the entire project. That considered, there are few things to know before you approach building a website.

   Look at the beginning process as a gathering information exercise that guides the project in the right direction.

   Typical questions that will be asked should be basic information about your business including:

• • Name/Company

  • DBA

  • Address

  • Phone Number
    
    In addition, the fundamental details of the website will be gathered here through a procedural type of on boarding application:

• • How Many Pages

  • Are Stock Images Included

  • Is Content Included

  • Are Videos Included

  • Are Email Services Managed

  • Logo Design

  • Commenting System

  • SEO Settings

  • Contact Forms

  • Email Opt-In Forms

  • Podcasting Feed

  • Navigation/Search

  • Funnel development

  • Ad Management

  • Social Management

  • E-Commerce Platform

  • Blog Features

The plan is then developed laying out the specifications and every detail of the web design project. On-going website maintenance will also be discussed during this process too.

This process should iron out all the details and questions so that each party is completely aware of what is expected of each other and terms are then agreed upon.

Contracts that define the duties of each party, copyright ownership, content generation, timelines, management and maintenance services, payment terms will be drafted and signed by both parties before starting the project.

These contracts will often layout each step of the web design process and will explain for different contingencies and act as a reference to the project. It’s always best to be thorough and concise so take your time with this step.

2. Design and Development

   After an analysis of the project’s goals, the information gathered throughout that section is now implemented and planning begins into sitemaps and wire frames.

   Sitemaps are usually a file generated by the agency about the flow of media, pages, and content in relation to one another.

The benefit comes when search engines, like Google, use machine learning (ML) to crawl your website and the sitemaps provide all the pages and files you think are important to your website.

Wire frames are the blueprints of your website. They’re a file that shows your visual design, layout, and functionality of each page.

Make sure whenever your website is being designed that you’re involved in this process. The structure needs to satisfy your needs and meets the user’s expectations on every page.

Advantages of wire frames provide early visuals to optimize page content and functionality while accounting for business and user needs.

Prototypes of the web pages are created then the process of outlining, tweaking, and approval of mock-ups becomes a cycle lasting differently until both parties agree.

All the visual aspects of your website start to fill in including images, videos, logos, and content.

3. 1. Images

   2. Videos

   3. Infographics

   4. Blog Posts or Articles

   5. Case Studies

   6. Guides

   7. Top 10 Articles

   8. How-to Articles

   9. Q&A

   10. Product Pages

   11. Services Pages

   12. Podcasts

   13. Updates

It’s very important when adding all these forms of media that it creates a consistent message to your target audience. Your website should speak directly to your target audience, So, modify and adjust it for that purpose.

3. Responsive Design And Performance Testing

   At this point, everything is about the user’s experience.

   If the user cannot find what they’re looking for on your website quickly and easily they’ll bounce right off your page and keep scrolling the search engine until they find what they’re looking for.

   One of the biggest factors in the user’s experience is if you have responsive web design (UI) and page speed loading times.

   The facts are in, the importance of page load times cannot be overstated on all the benefits this has on every level of your website.

   The users convert on fasting loading pages and even Google’s actions show that page speed from 2019 on will be the difference in showing up in the search results. Page speed doesn’t tell the whole story though, every website needs responsive web design (UI).
   
   When people visit your website, there must be no obstacles that create a bad user experience. We suggest focusing on satisfying the user’s needs as quickly as possible using better UI.
   
   What is responsive web design?

Responsive web design is a design element that will respond and change the layout of your website, in a user-friendly way, according to the device they’re viewing on.

Consequences of a poorly made website can be far-reaching: 75% of a customers judge a company’s credibility based on the company’s website design.

The website should go through a final diagnostic test to check for any issues in misspellings, visual design elements that don’t match, functionality, look-and-feel symmetry, and broken links.

The look-and-feel symmetry refers to verifying each page, contact forms, business information, blog, content, typography, size, font, or any visual designs that don’t match and flow with the website.

4. Pre-Launch Website Check List Then Live Testing

   Whenever your site is ready to launch and go public make sure you choose the time and day for a prepared and successful opening.

   View all pages to make sure all design elements are polished and approved by you.

   Keep in mind that there needs to be a heavy focus on user experience and look for small improvements to any part of the website.

   The security and backup files of the website should exist at this point.

   I always recommend tracking a few Key Performance Indicators(KPI’S) based on what you’re testing for.

   Keeping track of this data before, during, and after launching the website because it will give you new information about how the user interacts with your site.

   Use these behavior patterns to dictate the flow of your website so you ensure the user finds what they’re looking for.

   Launching a website doesn’t necessarily mean that the job is finished. Be prepared to address feedback as it’s given after launch. Always be ready to make changes, edit copy, and fix unforeseen design errors.

   Your website is finally ready to go live.

   Your local servers will be transferred to your live servers and it will be ready to be viewed by the world.

   You should always be provided with all documentation including, logins, passwords, navigation, sitemaps, agency’s contact information, support plans and maintenance options discussed.

   Contracts should be fully completed at this point.

5. Website Maintenance And Content Management
   
   There will always be a need for maintenance on your web design. Like a house, you’ll continually need to update and provide consistent upkeep on your website.

One of the greatest advantages you can establish over your competition, today, would be to develop a content strategy to ensure the long term health of your website.

Continually try to offer new content and value to your customers on a regular basis.

This always keeps your brand relevant in Google’s search engines and helps impact your SEO and marketing. Many agencies offer different packages or services plans that involve the weekly maintenance of your website.

Typical maintenance services include:

• Run CMS Updates

• Update Theme

• Update Plugins

• Create Backups Of Website

• Analytics Tracking

• Reporting Hosting

• Fixing Broken Links

• Improving SEO

I always recommend checking out any services plans that involve maintenance for the website. Often times agencies troubleshoot and identify problems very quickly.

A great benefit of this is also finding agencies that do analytical reporting which can offer tremendous value in creating better conversions.

CONCLUSION

The benefits of understanding the web design process will save you in the long run from choosing the wrong company or building the wrong type of website.

Use his information, especially step 1, to understand the basic needs of your website. Make sure that it’s optimized with exactly the right design elements and functionality that showcase your brand and creates the best user experience.

Don’t forget to put extra focus into page speed load times whenever you’re working with a web design agency. Optimizing this will have tremendous benefits in the future life of your website.

Use these tips to help guide your expectations and design the best website the next time you hire a web design company. If you have any questions or comments let us know down below.

If you’re looking to create a beautiful, functional, and customized website or looking to redesign a current website-we’d love to hear from you.

Give us a call at (1-314-384-5025) or contact us online here.