The perception of every web designer is not the same. This directly affects the approach of the designer to creating the web design. The process of web designing has to be planned systematically. Some of the basic steps for creating a successful web design are as follows
Purpose
The business owner knows his/her business better than the web designer. It is the business owner who has to first decide the objectives and goals of the website and then convey it to the web designer. Does the website need a redesign or need to be developed from the scratch as a fresh website? Besides this the business owner needs to decide what market segment is to be targeted and what information has to be shared and what information has to be to be kept classified and confidential.
Costing
Appropriate costing is the mark of an excellent professional web designer. The affordability of all businesses is not the same. The budget for website designing varies from business to business. It is always better to clarify the budgeting part before the commencement of the work on any web design project. It is advisable that the web designer resorts to transparency about budgeting and the terms and conditions of payment. Once the affordable budget of the business owner is known the designer can decide about the quality and the time to be devoted for developing the web design.
Time
In this age of internet marketing time is of crucial importance. Most of the businesses want the websites to be designed and developed in a jiffy. They have to be explained that haste can be waste. The web designer should take neither a prolonged time nor very short time for designing the website. The time taken to design the website should be justified.
Target Market Segment
The business should decide the target market segment. It is the target audience or market segment that is going to decide the text and visual content as well as the layout of the website. If the website is catering to the kid's market then the inclusion of colorful images becomes mandatory. On the other hand if the website is offering market research services there is hardly any need of any images. If the website is offering technical services then only relevant images need to be included.
Scope
The scope of the web design varies from business to business. Some businesses want the websites for long term while others want it for short term. If the website is for short term it can be a template based website while if it is for long term it has to be a customized website.
Resource availability
The resources such as brochure, logo, and photos of the products play a vital role in the quick designing of the website. If these kinds of resources are not available then they need to be made ready and this can take some time.
Overall Appearance
As a professional designer you should be able to offer such a website to the business owner that is appealing to the final user and buyer of the offerings made through the website. This is where overall appearance of the website comes into play. It is better to offer options of different web designs to the business owner and let him/her decide what his/her customers or clients are going to like the most.
The Dos and Don'ts
Some of the business owners want the websites to have the features like "Add to cart" and mode of payment while there would be other business owners who do not want these features to be included in the website. The designer should clarify with the business owner what features to include and what features to exclude.