Do you ever find yourself sitting in front of Photoshop for hours trying to mock up a decent navigation menu, or searching the web for the most aesthetically pleasing color palettes for your users to click on that doesn't remind them of McDonalds or a funeral parlor? Face it, sometimes we all lose our mojo for a moment or two, and then we are forced to validate ourselves not just to the W3C, but also to our website visitors, design clients and portfolio piranhas. And then we remember that through the general kindness of a group of web designers and/or developers, and through organizations such as The Creative Commons who work to guarantee that kind freedom, we don't always have to be the Picaso of style sheets.
This tutorial is in the series of "WordPress Theme from Scratch" that help you build a WordPress theme by yourself from nothing. We already learned how to create a mock up for WordPress theme in Photoshop last week. Today, we will continue to make HTML file from that psd layout.
Designing a professional website doesn't exactly have to be a daunting process, provided, you're aware of the elements that a business website should have - without fail. Offered below is a rundown.
Focus on the Experience
Your visitors' experience on your website can be crafted way before the website is actually designed. Even before you're typing an HTML Tag, you should have a clear idea as to how you would like the website to work. A very important part of designing a website is wire-framing - whereby a designer includes all his thoughts in a mock design and shows it to friends to gauge whether it'll work for a larger follower base or not.
Business Information
Your website might as well be a winner in terms of visual appeal. However, please remember, all your effort would mean nothing if it isn't backed by crucial information about your business. They say it right when they say that businesses often end up committing the mistake of crafting the website they "want" instead of something that they "need".
You might as well want your text to be all "picturesque" but let us tell you that beyond the visual vitality of your website, your visitors would want to know about you - the way you started, what you're dealing into, contact info, company vision and others. Be precise but make sure you have got all the relevant facts across.
Branding - It has always "mattered" and it will continue to matter
Small businesses often undermine the importance of branding. Please remember that every element of your website - the color, font and the logo used by you- contributes to your brand! Make sure you're using them in a cohesive manner to stay consistent with the brand image that you're trying to build. Do not think that you can go haywire with your imagination and execution in this regard.
Your site should be easily navigable
Please don't forget that there several options to choose from when it comes to website menus - scroll-tri
Designing a professional website doesn't exactly have to be a daunting process, provided, you're aware of the elements that a business website should have - without fail.