Truth be told, like most web managers, I started my journey as a web designer. I learned HTML and CSS, a bit of JavaScript, and started to design small websites for individual clients. The websites were usually small, consisting only of around 3 to 5 pages.
At that time also no one cared about SEO or conversion optimization and the general understanding of web design impact was quite limited. Companies just wanted to have a web presence that was in line with their main marketing, such as their product brochures, logos, and business cards.
In most cases, they would point clients to their website not to finish the sale, but to legitimize their company’s forward-looking stance. And it worked.
When Adobe Flash technology became widely available, many web designers started creating animated websites that could interact and leave a lasting impression. A lot of clients turned away from the rigid and tabular HTML structures and wanted more creative designs.
At last, web design finally went mainstream and officially became a respected profession. Fast forward 10 years. Today things are different, really different.
For one, no one uses Flash anymore because apparently it’s vulnerable to hacks and the technology is no longer supported by Adobe. (more on this here).
The most important change, however, lies not in the advancement of the technology to design websites, but in the transactional nature of a website and our ability to measure its success.
The way we view websites today is drastically different from how we viewed them 10 years ago. Our intentions and expectations are simply different.
How we view web design today
Today, the main purpose of a website is to capture the user’s interest, inform, and sell a product or service. As users, we prefer a seamless experience and one that is engaging and informative. Our online attention span is shorter and so is our tolerance for website errors and slow loading times.
Let’s face it. With billions of websites competing for our attention, we are spoiled for choices. As users, we have become much more demanding in terms of our visual experience. A skill naturally honed by looking at hundreds of websites a day.
Therefore, web designers are now often called UX engineers. (UX stands for User Experience.) In purist terms, they are not because UX engineers focus mainly on psychological and motivational factors of the user journey, whereas a web designer simply designs the graphics and the website. Although we can discuss these differences, suffice it to say that today’s web designers are also UX engineers.
Wireframing and initial web design
All web design and development should begin with wireframing, especially if the website is complex and being developed for a large organization. The main purpose of wireframes is to organize and agree on the initial look and navigation of the website and its modules before any programming work begins.
Although many people will consider this like a waste of time, let me assure you that it is not.
Wireframing can save you thousands in re-development and re-design costs. It is a lot easier and more cost-effective to agree on the navigation and the design in this initial phase than it is on a working demo site.
Moreover, simple wireframes will help to structure the website in a logical and efficient way and optimize your web development budget. Let me explain.
Suppose you are the boss of a big company and you want to create a great website for one of your new ventures. You and your team have amazing ideas about how it should look and what features it should have. So you get in touch with your local web design and development company and tell them all about your ideas.
The web company listens attentively, makes suggestions, and takes notes of everything that was mentioned. You are happy they understand your website needs and you proceed to sign the web development contract for your project.
After a few weeks, the web design and development company shows you the first demo of your site. It looks great but now you see that there are some things that need changing. Some things need to be removed and other things need to be added.
You request those changes and a week later it’s all done. You take a look at your demo site and it looks great at first instance, but after careful analysis, your team suggests new changes and requests an additional feature to the website.
The development company realizes that this new feature requires custom programming which equals a lot more man-hours. They start charging you extra because this was not included in the initial discussion and the contract. Your web development budget needs to be increased.
From my experience, this type of thing happens about 85% of the time.
All of this headache of going back and forth and paying extra charges for additional features or changes could be completely avoided with wireframing. Moreover, with precise wireframes of all content you’ll know exactly what to expect and also your web company will be able to price the web design and development more precisely.
In conclusion, wireframing makes things easier for your team, as well as, the contracted web development company.
This is how I usually design websites
Here at WebManager.pro I can design and build a great website for your business in any niche. Here are some examples of websites I can develop within a week.
All websites will feature a WordPress content management system, also known as CMS. WordPress allows multiple users with various administration levels, more dynamic and secure infrastructure, easier web content editing, faster updates, and solid developer support.
Once I get your WordPress installation up and running on your chosen domain, I will then proceed to configure the installation to suit your specific business needs based on the agreed wireframes.
Drawing from 20 years of web experience, I provide professional advice during each phase of web design and development, including security, server configuration, SEO, creating and optimizing sales funnels, and configuring analytics.
If you belong to the remaining 5% of business owners who need a custom content management system and a more specialized website, I can help with that too.
Simply let me know exactly what you need and I will provide a free consultation with a valuation with no obligation to proceed.