Best Way to Design a Website Before Starting with WordPress
The most common question I get asked whenever someone wants to design a website is: What is the best way to start with?
The answer is: There is no “best” way to do it because it depends on what you prefer and what you are comfortable with. However, there are some general guidelines and best practices that you can follow to make the process easier and more fun.
Here, I am going to share with you some of the best ways to design a website before starting with WordPress.
Find Your Niche
When you start with a new project, whether it is a website or another project entirely, the first thing you should do is figure out your niche.
A niche is a “small market or segment” within the large market for a product or service. For example, “gym wear for women” is a niche within the general category of “fitness”. When you find your niche, you can then determine the kind of content you will need to produce to attract potential customers to your site. For example, if you are in the “fitness” niche, you may decide that you will need to produce content on health and nutrition. Alternatively, if you are in the “beauty” niche, you might decide that you will need to focus on makeup and skincare tips.
It is important to find your niche because not all fitness websites will be created equal. If you know that you can offer something special and unique to the fitness niche, you can develop a strategy for attracting potential customers to your site. You can do this by creating more content on a regular basis to build credibility and by actively engaging with your audience through social media channels.
Pick A Hosting Service
One of the first things you need to do before starting to design your website is to choose a hosting service. Every website needs a place to live (hence the name “hosting service”) and you can either rent a dedicated server from a reputable company or use the free hosting offered by most web hosts.
The decision between the two options is mostly a matter of personal preference. The free hosting is incredibly convenient because all you need to do is upload your content and you are good to go. However, if you want to go the extra mile and want to have a professional-looking website, you should consider investing in a dedicated server.
The advantage of having a dedicated server is that you can have total control over the look and feel of your website. This is important because when someone visits your site, they want to feel that they are visiting an authoritative website that they can trust. Having credibility is a key factor in gaining potential customers’ trust and making them stay on your site for as long as possible. A clean, uncluttered and organized site reflects a professional and trustworthy brand. Therefore, the look and feel of your website are crucial to its success.
Curate A Good Mix Of The Right Header, Footer, And Form Elements
Another important thing to consider when designing your website is the header, footer, and form elements. These are the fundamental building blocks of any website and without them, you cannot have a complete and functional site.
A header is the area at the top of the page that includes the name of the website, navigation links, and any company logos. It should be large enough to be seen but not so large that it takes up the entire header area. Typically, headers are made out of a solid color or pattern and are placed above the fold (above the area of the page that can be viewed without needing to scroll down).
A footer is the area at the bottom of the page that includes copyright information, the site’s contact details, and sometimes, a tiny bit of content like a small banner or logo. It should be large enough to be seen but not so large that it takes up the entire footer area. Typically, footers are made out of a solid color or pattern and are placed at the bottom of the page.
A form element is a block of content, such as a search box, contact form, or sign-up form that you can include on your site. When someone fills out the form, you can collect their information, such as their name and email address, and use it to send them relevant content or updates about your company. You can also see their information when they visit your site in order to verify they are a real person and not a computer program.
Make Sure You Have Everything You Need
Another important thing to do before starting to design your website is to make sure you have everything you need. It is not practical to start building a website and discover you do not have the tools or skills necessary to create a professional-looking product.
Having a complete and well-rounded set of Adobe tools, such as Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, is critical to being able to design a website. These are the tools used by almost all professional designers and web creators. If you do not have access to these tools, it is highly unlikely you will be able to create a professional-looking product.
An important point to make about these tools is that they are NOT free. You have to pay for them each month, as do the designers who use them. This is why it is best to either invest in them or find a designer who already has them and is willing to share them with you.
Start Small
One of the things that makes designing a website so much fun is that you get to start small and then, as you gain experience, you can grow your project into a much larger one.
When you are starting out, it is recommended that you create a small website, no matter what platform you are using. The reason for this is that it is easy to create and very portable. If you decide to upgrade to a dedicated server at a later date, you can take your existing site, and all of its content, and easily move it to the new server.
The benefit of this is that you do not need to start from scratch. You can already have content on your site that you can use to populate your new project. This saves you a great deal of time and effort, not to mention the fact that you do not have to start from scratch means that you potentially avoid some pitfalls.
Have Fun
Finally, do not forget to have fun. After all, you are creating a product that you will use every day for the rest of your life. So, as long as you are having fun, everything else will be okay.
Designing a website is not as difficult as some people make it out to be. It takes time to get used to, but once you do, you can enjoy the process. Plus, having a creative outlet that you can use to showcase your work is extremely rewarding.