Best Methodology for Designing and Building a Website

In today’s digital era, a business without a robust online presence is akin to a ship trying to navigate without a compass. The importance of having a well-structured and functional website cannot be understated. Building an online platform is the heart of your digital identity, where you can showcase your products or services, connect with customers, and drive business growth. Not only does a website enhance your visibility, but it also builds credibility and trust among your audience.

However, creating an effective website is not just about flashy designs and the latest tech. It’s about aligning your online platform with your business objectives, understanding your audience, and delivering a seamless and engaging user experience. It’s a comprehensive process that involves strategic planning, attention to detail, and ongoing effort. 

We will arm you with the knowledge and tools needed to make a website that is not just aesthetically pleasing but also functional, user-friendly, and optimized for success.

Whether you’re a seasoned business owner looking to revamp your existing site, a budding entrepreneur ready to start your ecommerce website, or a small business building a website from scratch, this guide will surely provide valuable insights. 

So, let’s embark on this exciting journey towards building an impactful website for your business.

When it comes to establishing an online presence, the first step in website building is not choosing the colors of your website or designing the logo. Instead, it’s about understanding your business needs and defining your online objectives. What do you want your website to achieve? Maybe you’re looking to generate sales, provide information, build a community, or perhaps all three. Pinpointing these goals from the get-go ensures your website will be purposefully constructed to meet them.

What do you want your website to do?

• A professional website to find leads or prospects
• A portfolio website to showcase your work through art, photos, or product
• An online store to sell products
• A membership site to grow your services
• A landing page to launch a new program or service
• These are just some of the types of websites that can help you narrow your focus on the design of your website and what will ultimately get you to your goal.

Let’s illustrate with an example. Suppose you own a boutique, and your goal is to expand your customer base by selling products on a website or online store. Your website objectives could include providing product information, facilitating online purchases, and nurturing customer relationships through newsletters or a loyalty program.

Once your goals are defined, the next vital step is knowing your audience. This isn’t a mere box-ticking exercise; it’s the foundation upon which your entire online strategy rests.

After all, your website should be a user-centered space designed to cater to your audience’s needs, interests, and online behaviors.

But how do you get to know your audience? It starts with basic demographics such as age, location, and gender. Then, dig deeper. What are their interests and hobbies? What websites do they frequent? What social media platforms do they use and when?

You can gather this data through customer surveys, social media analytics, and online tools such as Google Analytics.

Understanding your audience goes beyond collecting data; it’s about transforming that information into actionable insights.

For instance, if you learn that a large portion of your audience are working professionals who browse online during their commute, you’ll want to ensure your website is mobile-friendly and quick to load.

These insights should also inform the content you provide to build your website. Let’s go back to our boutique owner. If the target audience is primarily millennials who value sustainable fashion, it would be smart to highlight the eco-friendly materials used in products, share behind-the-scenes content about your supply chain, and even run a blog covering sustainability in fashion.

Knowing your audience’s preferences and behaviors also helps you tailor your website’s navigation and design. For example, if your audience prefers video content over long-form articles, your website should reflect that.

Understanding your business needs and audience is a two-fold process that involves defining clear objectives for your website and getting to know your audience intimately.

This critical foundation shapes everything that follows, from website structure and design, to content creation, and as well as marketing strategies. Remember, your website is not just a digital storefront for your business, but a dynamic platform that can evolve with your audience’s needs.

Embrace this mindset, and you’ll be well on your way to building a successful online presence.

Audience engagement is more than just a buzzword; it’s a crucial aspect of your website’s success. In the overcrowded and chaotic digital landscape, capturing and maintaining your audience’s attention can be a challenge.

So, how can you rise above the noise? The answer lies in delivering engaging, relevant content, utilizing impactful visual elements, and fostering interactivity. 

Content is the lifeblood of your website. It’s what search engines index, and it’s what users come to consume. But creating content isn’t about filling your website with endless text blocks.

It’s about providing value to your visitors, answering their queries, and offering solutions to their problems.

The first step is to understand what kind of content resonates with your audience. What topics are they interested in? What type of content do they consume the most – articles, blogs, videos, podcasts? What social media do they consume?

Once you know this, you can tailor your content strategy accordingly. Remember, relevancy is key. Irrelevant content can drive users away, while meaningful, timely content can turn a one-time visitor into a loyal follower or even a customer. 

Don’t forget to keep your content fresh. Regularly updating your website with new content not only keeps your audience coming back for more, but it’s also a positive signal to search engines. This improves your SEO and helps you with website traffic. 

We’re visual creatures, and research shows that our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text. That’s why visual elements – be it quality images, engaging videos, or insightful infographics – are an essential part of any successful website. 

Quality images can showcase your products or services, tell your brand’s story, and evoke emotions that words alone cannot.

Videos are another effective way to engage users, with statistics showing that users spend 88% more time on websites with videos. 

Infographics, on the other hand, can present complex data or processes in a visually appealing and easily digestible way.

Remember, however, that it’s not just about having visuals; it’s about having high-quality, relevant visuals that add value to your content on your new website. 

Interactive elements, such as quizzes, surveys, or interactive infographics, can add another layer of engagement to your website. They involve users directly, turning passive consumption into active participation.

Quizzes and surveys can not only entertain users but also provide you with valuable insights about your audience’s preferences, needs, or opinions. These insights can inform your product development, marketing strategies, and content creation.

Engaging your audience is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. It requires understanding your audience, delivering relevant and valuable content, utilizing impactful visual elements, and fostering interactivity.

Remember, the goal is not just to attract visitors but to create an engaging experience that keeps them coming back. With these strategies in hand, you’re well-equipped to transform your website into a hub of audience engagement.

Let’s Start The Design Process.

Once you work with a web designer on the type of website that you need, it’s time to start working on the design of your site. As you move forward with designing a website, you’ll find that your choice of elements to include will vary depending on what you want to accomplish.

For example, if you want to make a website that promotes your business, try arranging your content by the services that you want to offer. This may determine how many pages your website will require and how much copy for each page will need to be written.

If you want to display the work that you created to advertise your skills, a portfolio format and an online store can be a good combination to bring you success with building an audience and selling your work.

If you want to build a website that will display your professional skills, creating a website with the goal of growing your career, a simple and professional resume website might suit your needs perfectly. This could augment your profile in Linkedin and will look great on any resume that links back to your resume site.

There are many factors to consider when building a website. For those who want to create your own website, you could use a free builder like WordPress to build your site.  A WordPress site will give you flexibility and tremendous options in creativity and functions. But depending on your needs, the learning curve can be quite extensive.

A good website designer can walk you through the process and get you on the right track and have your site up fast. 

Just to give you an idea of how many people use WordPress, approximately 41% of all websites in the world are powered by WordPress. Wix is also highly rated. Squarespace is also a good website for creative professionals.

Shopify is the platform for e-commerce but WordPress has a Woo-Commerce plugin that is used by millions of users to power their e-commerce shops. It’s best to review this with your web designer who can give you advice on the best CMS to develop your site.

Depending on the content management platform, each has its unique tools to make them shine. Most of these CMS have plugins that can customize the functionality and design of the platform. For example, WordPress and Shopify have themes that can give a specific look and unlock the functionality of the CMS platform.

Hosting a website will also be a major consideration you want to work through. Most website builders have their own hosting plan to host your website so that it’s available 24/7. You can also opt to purchase your own hosting with Hostgator, Bluehost, or Name Hero just to name a few.

The cost is minimal at first but can be more expensive in the long run. Your web designer will usually package hosting and maintenance together and bring you cost savings and the convenience of having all the maintenance done by your web designer.

Your Domain Name is massively important in consideration of what resonates with your marketing and the brand you want to build. You will want to consider the name of the website and check to see what is currently available.

Domain names can be purchased at your domain seller of choice – Godaddy, Hostgator, and NameCheap are just a few domain sellers that you can use. The domain extension is an important consideration in picking a name for your website.

A dot.com, dot.net, or dot.org will affect how people view your website and trust your website. In general, choose dot.com when this extension is available. Dot.net is usually associated with network services so choose this only if it pertains to your business.

Domain extensions usually don’t affect SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when you are trying to rank on the top pages of Google. The bottom line is you want to pick a domain name that will be congruent with your brand and establish authority and expertise with the contents of your website.

Every business is unique, and so is every website. Your content will set you apart from your competitors.

Your website designer can help you with choosing the right platform, template, layout, and integrations that will make your website shine and be available to your audience for the purposes intended.

Once you have worked out the logistics of the CMS, functionality, themes, and hosting – you will need to get to the design of the website. What will it look like? What content should I place? How many pages will I need? Do I need to integrate a CRM? Will I be offering a membership? Will I be selling digital content like a course or physical products?

Once you’re logged into your platform of choice, it’s time to conceptualize your website layout. If you want to start from scratch, you may want to map out your website’s design on paper before you start to drag and drop. However, another option is to use a template, which is a pre-designed layout created by a professional designer.

WordPress offers an extensive library of free website templates. Your web designer will also have options for you depending on your needs and what page builder is available. Your web designer will use a website builder to construct your website. Your website builder may use Gutenberg, Elementor, or Divi page builder to build out your website, as these are highly effective and efficient tools for constructing a well-functioning website. 

They may opt to use a Shopify or WooCommerce platform and incorporate their tools to maximize the functionality of the CMS platform of choice.

Whichever CMS platform you choose, you’ll find designs for every kind of website. Start by browsing through some options with your designer until you find a layout that you love.

A good design should start with a wireframe to lay out the content that you want to include in your website. A wireframe does not have to be extensive and is oftentimes a black-and-white sketch of what content you want and where you want to place it.

The wireframe should give you an idea of what type of content you want and where it makes the most sense to place it. There’s no better way to get your web design juices flowing than by seeking creative inspiration.

Your web designer may also have in their toolbelt applications that can visually map out the wireframe to assist in the development process. A good way to get inspiration is to look at website examples that got it right from your perspective.

Grab a pen and paper, and jot down ideas you like as you browse through some of the best website designs and review this together with your web designer. This collaboration and brainstorming, in the beginning, will go a long way to getting you to your end goal for your website.

An effective wireframe will also start to address the navigation of the user to other pages and information that they are looking for. In order to provide the best website navigation experience for your clients, your pages need to be properly connected to one another.

Make sure visitors can easily find the pages they need by adding a navigation menu and implementing internal links to quickly get the page or section that your customers are looking for.

Navigation-Menus can showcase the ease of movement from the standard horizontal header menu to the condensed hamburger menu (usually found on a mobile view). Try not to make the menus too deep as this may affect the user experience and SEO. Flatter websites make navigation easier.

However, most people have become accustomed to having some standard pages on a website to establish trust that you are a legitimate company. If you’re going for a multi-page website design, here are some traditional web pages you should consider having:

Homepage: It’s the first introduction to you and your business. Since it’s likely to be the first thing your visitors and potential new clients will see, aim for a homepage design that is eye-catching, clean, and speaks to what your brand is about.

It should clarify who you are and what you do. Most importantly, it should seek to drive the customer to some action that you want them to take; CTA must be clear. Make sure your branding logo, colors, and name of your business is prominently displayed.

You will also want to design the user experience so that navigation, speed, and finding information is easy for the user. The longer they stay and enjoy the experience of your website, the more likely they will build trust and come back for future engagements.

About Us page: The best way to approach this page is to tell your story, and share your values, methods, and what you stand for to your customers. It’s also important to include personal touches so that your clients know they are dealing with real people who want to help them solve a problem.

Contact page: When your future clients want to reach out to you, they should be able to get hold of you pretty easily. Depending on how you want to interact with your clients, you may include your phone number, postal address, and/or business email address.

I’m also a proponent of having a contact form available so your clients can opt-in to your email list for future opportunities for email marketing. Having your social media accounts easily available is also important to establish credibility and show that you have a social presence of interaction with your audience.

You can also consider adding a live chat widget (messenger, WhatsApp, etc) that gives visitors the chance to reach out and get a fast response.

Your Product or Service Page: The product or service page is where your visitors come to discover what you have to offer. If you and your web designer do a good job, this could lead to your clients taking out their credit card and making a purchase for your goods or services.

This is where your goals and design early in the project can make a difference in how the information will be displayed and how the transactions will be processed on a Shopify site, WooCommerce page, or membership or digital course site. Begin with the end in mind applies here.

A Blog: Content marketing can be a great method to attract traffic to your site and increase your SEO ranking for displaying higher on the Google Search Results Page. Creating a blog boosts your reputation as an expert, helps you foster a loyal community, and is an effective way to drive traffic to your website.

Your web designer or a good copywriter can assist you with generating effective sales copy that will convert sales. Your story is more valuable than you think in generating content that will grow your brand.

Testimonials: An honest testimonials page is a wonderfully effective addition to your website design. Social proof and user-generated content can help drive sales and prove that you can deliver the right product or service to your customers. There is no better marketing tool than social proof of customer loyalty and their testimonials about your service, product, and brand.

FAQ page: An optional page or section to have but is an effective way to get the customers the answers they need quickly. The FAQ should provide visitors with quick and simple answers to common questions in an organized manner. It can save time by answering questions quickly and provide a great experience for users.

It’s time to test your website.
Once your website is built, integrations are connected, and you have defined how they display to the site visitor; it’s time to ensure it all works.

Combine manual browsing of the site on a variety of devices with automated site crawlers to identify everything from user experience issues to simple broken links.

some website builder on a WordPress platform allows for templates to make building the ideal site much faster and can be customized to meet your exact needs. They usually come with premade templates and patterns to help you start building a website quickly.

Some WordPress plugins come with a pre-built website ready to quickly customize using the right builder. Astra, Stackables, Divi, and Spectra are all website themes that come with a builder that I have used on WordPress websites with ease, and they make your website look stunning with minimal effort for your specific brand. 

Some alternative page builders come will all-inclusive tools to market your website, funnels and build out your e-commerce store with Ease so you can easily sell online. Groove CM and Systeme IO are a great all-in-one tool to help accomplish your marketing goals. They will even host your website on their servers at one value-packed price. 

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

In the digital realm, having a beautiful and functional website is only part of the equation. To truly succeed, your website needs to be seen.

This is where Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, comes in. SEO is a collection of techniques and best practices that help your website achieve higher rankings in search engine results, thereby improving its visibility and attracting more organic traffic. 

Imagine having a shop in an alley that no one walks through. You may have the best products, but if people don’t know about your shop, they won’t come. The same principle applies to your website.

You may have the most valuable content or the best services, but if your website doesn’t appear in search results when people look for the products or services you offer, they won’t visit your site. 

SEO helps your website appear in relevant search results, increasing its visibility to potential visitors. Moreover, people tend to trust search engines. If your site ranks high in search results, it is perceived as more trustworthy and credible.

Keywords are the terms that people enter into search engines when looking for information, products, or services. Understanding the keywords that your target audience uses and incorporating them into your website content is crucial for improving your site’s visibility.

Keyword research involves identifying relevant keywords for your business and determining their search volume and competition level. Several tools, like Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush, can assist with this process.

Once you’ve identified your keywords, the next step is to incorporate them into your website content naturally and strategically. Overusing keywords (a practice known as keyword stuffing) can lead to penalties from search engines. Instead, aim for a balanced and natural inclusion of keywords in your content.

On-page SEO refers to optimizing individual webpages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. This involves optimizing both the content and the HTML source code of a page. Key components include:

Meta descriptions: This is the brief description that appears under your page title in search results. It should accurately summarize the page content and include relevant keywords.
Title tags: The title of your web page as it appears in search results. It should be compelling, relevant, and include your primary keyword.
Headers: Using headers (H1, H2, H3) not only makes your content easier to read, but also helps search engines understand the structure of your page. Make sure to include relevant keywords in your headers.

Technical SEO involves optimizing the technical aspects of your site to improve its ranking in search results. Key considerations include:

Site speed: Website loading speed is a significant ranking factor for search engines. The quicker your site loads, the better your ranking. You can improve site speed by optimizing your images, minimizing CSS and JavaScript, and leveraging browser caching, among other strategies.
Mobile optimization: With more people accessing the web via mobile devices, having a mobile-optimized site is crucial. A mobile-friendly site not only improves the user experience but is also favored by search engines.

SEO is a vital strategy for improving your website’s visibility, attracting more organic traffic, and building credibility. By leveraging keyword research, on-page SEO, and technical SEO, you can optimize your site for better rankings in search engine results.

Remember, SEO is not a one-time task but an ongoing commitment. As search engine algorithms and user behaviors evolve, so should your SEO strategies.

Copywriting plays a pivotal role in the success of a website. It’s the art of crafting compelling text that prompts readers to take a specific action—be it purchasing a product, subscribing to a newsletter, or contacting your business.

Effective web copywriting is not just about stringing together catchy phrases. It’s about communicating your brand’s value proposition, engaging the reader, and compelling them to act.

When visitors land on your website, they’re typically looking for solutions to their problems or answers to their questions. They want to know how your product or service can benefit them.

This is why your copy needs to be persuasive and benefit-focused.

Persuasive copy taps into your audience’s emotions, desires, and needs, convincing them that your product or service is their best choice. On the other hand, focusing on benefits rather than features means emphasizing how your product or service can improve the user’s life or solve their problem.

Instead of just stating what your product does, explain why it matters to the customer.

Writing for the web requires a unique approach. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

Use clear language: Web users typically scan content rather than read it word for word. Make sure your copy is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Avoid jargon and complex language.

Include strong Call to Actions (CTAs): Every piece of your website copy should guide visitors towards a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. Make your CTAs clear, concise, and action-oriented (e.g., “Buy Now”, “Sign Up”, “Contact Us”).

Structure your content well: Break up your copy into manageable chunks using headers, subheaders, bullet points, and short paragraphs. This improves readability and makes your content more digestible.

Maintaining a consistent tone and voice in your copy is essential for establishing a strong brand identity. Your tone and voice reflect your brand’s personality and values, helping you connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Consider the image you want to project—are you a friendly advisor, a passionate innovator, a stern teacher? Once you’ve determined your brand voice, stick to it across all your content. Consistency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust.

Effective copywriting can be a game-changer for your website. By crafting persuasive, benefit-focused copy, using clear language and strong CTAs, and maintaining a consistent tone and voice, you can engage your audience and motivate them to take desired actions.

Remember, good copywriting is not about selling but about building relationships and providing value.