A web design strategy should be thorough and involve a combination of creative and practical approaches. A good web design strategy is one that will be comprehensive and will include a blend of innovative and practical methods.
Most websites fail because they don’t look good. They don’t work because no one had the foresight to think about what the website should do. Yes, a business invests in a great design, rolls it out and then asks, “Why didn’t anyone contact us after 8 seconds? Yes, a business gets a beautiful design, gets it up and running, and wonders, “Why are people not filling out the contact form after 8 seconds?
That’s where a good web design strategy comes in. It’s the thinking that takes place prior to anyone opening a design tool. A healthy website design strategy ties together your business objectives, your visitors’ requirements and the technical aspects of the development, which means there’s a reason for each and every decision.
What is a Web Design Strategy?
Consider it a plan, not a style guide. There are a few simple questions which can be answered in web design planning. Who or what is this site aimed at? What do they need to do when they reach there? Who would prevent them from doing it? How will you know if the site is operational?
If you don’t have those answers, you’re left to design by opinion. One person is fond of blue and another wants a larger logo and the project goes astray. If things get complicated, you can refer to the strategy.
Start With User Research
Those who have not sought to understand you can’t design for. All good projects start with user research and audience research. If possible, discuss with actual customers. Scroll through their feedback, review support emails, and see what common questions they ask.
Often the first impression you have about the audience is only partially correct. Perhaps they’re flipping through their phone’s pages while on the way to work. Perhaps they’re more interested in the cost than you realize. All of that information will govern the remainder of the work.
Competitor analysis comes in handy also. Examine 3-4 locations in your space and ask what they do well and where do they frustrate you? There is no intent to duplicate anyone else. It’s to identify both needs and habits in your audience that you can fill.
Create a User Journey map.
It would be improbable for a person to visit a site and purchase it in just a minute. They come with a question, they see around, they compare, they go away and sometimes they come back. Customer journey mapping visualizes those stages, and helps you identify where customers need assistance.
What a typical user journey could look like is searching for you, reading a blog post, checking your services page and then looking at pricing. A clear next move for each step is required. Any step that is a dead end is a dead end and you lose people there.
Removing friction from that path, for the most part, is a good UX strategy. Each additional click, mislabelled word, or slow page is a minor reason to leave.
Ensuring that the Information Architecture is Correct
Content is how it’s organized, known as information architecture. It may sound jargon-y, but it’s simply common sense. Is there someone out there who can locate something without having to do a lot of work?
Begin by listing all pages that you need, and organize related pages together. Main website navigation should be short and to the point, typically 5-7 items. Use plain labels. Most audiences prefer the “Services” over the “What We Do” and the “Contact” over the “Let’s Connect” options.
Draw the design out on paper before you begin designing. Boxes moving are much less expensive than post-launch menu rebuilds.
Wire Framing and Prototyping Early
The next step in website wireframing is to determine the layout without getting into color, fonts, and so on. Rough boxes and placeholders for text are okay. The aim is to get a handle on where things go and what gets priority.
After the website makes sense, website prototyping enables you to click through a basic version of the site. Even five users can identify issues that you would never have known during your own testing. You may not have someone who doesn’t see your primary button, or who misreads a heading. It’s better to know now than after the launch.
Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is the way to communicate to visitors what is most important on a page. All of these—size, color, spacing and position—send messages. The headline goes first in a large font. Bright buttons will capture the eye. White space allows the important parts to ‘breathe’.
When all things are yelling, none are heard. Choose one primary action per page, and communicate it clearly. There are alternative ways that can be less loud.
Consistency Design
Brand identity design includes your logo, colours, typography and tone. This is what gives your site that feel of your own personality and makes it look like home. But if there’s any variation to the way it’s applied, then it’s not an identity.
Design systems come in handy there. Design System is a collection of consistent rules and component standards (such as buttons, spacing, headings, forms, and more). It helps to keep pages looking consistent and also will help with future updates being much faster. Consistency also helps inspire visitors’ confidence as they recognize when something is amiss, though they may not be able to explain why.
Design for Mobile
In most markets, over half of all web traffic is now from phones and mobile first design is no longer an option. The concept is to create the small screen version, and then build it up for tablets and desktops.
This compels good decisions. When it comes to a small screen, you need to decide what is really important. Responsive website design then ensures it displays seamlessly on all devices. Test on a real mobile device, don’t just resize a browser window. Tap targets, text size and form fields are different when operating them on your hand than when you are on a monitor.
Working with Functional
Accessibility-driven design involves creating a website that can be used by people with various disabilities. This means there is adequate colour contrast, legible font sizes, navigation by keyboard, clear labels on forms and alt text for images.
It is the proper thing to do and beneficial to all. Captions are good for those who can’t hear. Clear contrast is useful for everyone who is using the phone in bright sunlight. It is painful to pay for accessibility in the end, so make it a part of the beginning.
Don’t Ignore Speed and Core Web Vitals
Slow sites are losing visitors. It’s that simple. Website performance optimization and page speed optimization is not just a developer’s cleaning up task, but it goes into the design process.
The Core Web Vitals are metrics of the loading speed of the main content, how fast the page responds to clicks, and how resilient the page is to loading. Large images, many scripts and excessive animation often cause problems. Squeeze images, reduce fonts and don’t lie to yourself about whether that autoplay hero video is worth the price.
Design for Conversions
A site can be usable without converting. Conversion focused web design is a different question altogether: what motivates your visitors to take the next step?
All of these help, including the presence of clear headlines, a call to action that’s easy to see, social proof, including testimonials, and short forms. A good example is the design of your landing page. A good landing page has a single objective, a single message, and little distraction. Eliminate all other elements that do not contribute to that.
Final Thoughts
The best websites don’t look flashy. They’re the ones that the other person definitely thought of as visitors. Research, map, organise and design for research, mobile, accessibility, speed and search. Test, learn and refine.
This is what a good web design strategy can do for you: Create a website that is user-friendly, discoverable and supports business growth.
