We’ve been having a great time recently, working on a sample website for a potential new project. It’s given us the opportunity to get properly creative, explore some ideas and think about what makes a website really work.
And there’s rather more to it than you might think!
Finding the right look and feel
One of the first challenges is finding the right balance between fun and serious. A website needs to reflect the personality of the organisation behind it, but it also needs to feel professional, welcoming and easy to use.
We’ve had great fun building an entire colour palette around one fantastic photograph. It’s amazing how a single image can provide the inspiration for the look and feel of an entire website.
Making it easy to keep things fresh
A website shouldn’t be something you build, launch and then forget about.
Whether it’s a community group, club or business, keeping information up to date is important. Imagine finding an organisation that looks interesting, only to discover that its latest news, events or information is two years old. It’s not exactly encouraging!
That’s why we put a lot of thought into how a website is built behind the scenes. We want updating content to be straightforward, whether that’s something we take care of or the client prefers to manage themselves.
Fresh, relevant content is good for visitors and gives search engines more useful information to discover, too.
Making sure everyone finds their way
This is one of the more interesting design challenges.
Some visitors will already know exactly what they’re looking for. They use the website regularly and simply want to get where they need to be as quickly as possible.
Others might be discovering the organisation for the very first time. They need a little more guidance, a warm welcome and an easy way to explore what’s available.
Then there are all the different audiences to consider. How do you make sure everyone feels that the website has been designed with them in mind?
Good navigation, thoughtful page layouts and clearly defined routes through the site make a huge difference. It’s about making the experience feel natural, whoever happens to be visiting.
Looking good without slowing things down
We love a website that looks the part, but there’s no point creating something beautiful if it takes forever to load.
Page speed is a big consideration throughout the design process. Images, layouts, fonts and all the little extras need to work together without weighing the site down.
A slow-loading website can quickly lose visitors, and performance matters to search engines, too. Getting that balance between a premium-looking design and a really fast-loading experience is something we take seriously.
A little less flash, a little more finesse
We’ve had our fun with carousels, parallax scrolling and all sorts of clever visual effects over the years. And there’s still a place for them when they’re used well.
But we’re really enjoying the direction modern web design has taken. Understated quality, considered layouts, beautiful imagery and clever little interactive touches that make using a website a satisfying experience.
Nothing needs to shout for attention. Sometimes it’s the smaller details that make the biggest difference.
So, what makes a great website?
For us, it’s getting all these things working together. A website that looks great, feels right, loads quickly, is easy to navigate and, importantly, is easy to keep up to date.
There’s a lot of thought that goes into getting those details right, and that’s a big part of what makes creating websites so enjoyable for us.
So, where does this project go from here?
Well, we’ve been given a wonderfully simple brief: revamp the website. We’ve had plenty of creative freedom to explore what that could look like, but will the people we’re presenting it to like what we’ve come up with? Only time will tell! After all, Web Design 101 at Bluesdigital: the client gets a website they love! And if our design has helped our client discover what they don’t want, then it’s back to the drawing board. That’s all part of the process!
In any case, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting practical and creative, and thinking through all the little details that go into making a great website.
And hopefully, if you’re thinking about giving your own website a revamp, or perhaps starting afresh with a brand-new design, this post has given you a few insights to ponder for your own project.