Web Design refers to the design, development and maintenance of high quality websites with engaging content.
Web Design normally encompasses any design activities which serves to improve the front-end design element. These design components are almost always signed off and approved by the client.
In order to create the perfect website, one needs to take into account the following “tool tips”:
- Develop a consistent branding campaign. This will involve identification of the target audience who will exhibit significant amounts of brand loyalty towards the brand in question. Competitor research will be needed as well as audience/public opinion before a brand identity is promulgated and finalized. Once a brand identity has been developed, this will have to be promoted using different channels but the material (and underlying) message needs to be consistent and cohesive.
- Design Decision Elements: This will involve the selection of a specific template style which is in sync with the brand identity. Multiple options are available with a mix of different themes and styles catering to different client requirements.
- Improving the “Look and Feel” of the overall layout: This requirement can be achieved through different tool sets which provide a range of different functionality including parallax scrolling, embedding of background videos etc.
- Improving the End User Experience: This can be achieved through multiple design strategies. The navigation flow needs to be clear and transparent to a first time user so that at a glance, the user can decide where he/she needs to navigate. Content should always be delivered in a hierarchical manner so that critical components have high and prominent visibility. Liberal use of Call to Action messages prompt visitors to take a direct line of action and solve a particular requirement as soon as possible. Selection of a proper font type and font size promotes positive end user experience. Usage of designated headers and footers will deliver the correct message to the viewers.
- Search Engine Optimization Techniques: The website needs to be optimized for search engine crawlers so that they can be indexed. Keyword research is extremely important in order to identify market trends. Textual content needs to be developed keeping SEO in mind and should include all the necessary keywords. Meta tags should be used where needed and this will improve visibility in the eyes of the search engine crawlers. Website images should have Alt Text attributes populated so that the same is visible to the search engine crawlers. Use of link building and promotion of back links from high page ranking sites will lead to better search engine rankings in the long term.
- Support for mobile platforms: A website should support viewing from both desktop and mobile platforms. Recent studies have shown that an increasing number of online visitors browse the internet from mobile devices compared to conventional computers. Google has also released a recent report stating that the ranking algorithm will be more biased in favor of websites which support both mobile/desktop platforms compared to ones based on just the desktop variant. In light of all these developments, websites need to have inbuilt support for mobile visitors.
- Customer Interaction and Engagement: Once a website has gone live, it needs to be able to generate a 2 way traffic i.e. information content is visible to the end users and this same populace is able to provide user comments and feedback. This will keep the website content interesting and engaging, prompting follow-up discussions. Ability to read and post comments coupled with usage of tweets will all lead to better networking and more positive visibility in the greater digital community at large.