Creating great web designs isn’t easy. Well, you can always buy a beautiful theme and just replace the images with high-quality stock photos and you have a high chance of ending up with a good looking theme. But is this the best solution in the long run? Not likely. Let’s take a closer look at some of the things you will need to consider if you want to build a web design that works and is more than just a pretty layout. All the things we will be talking about today are related to both standard websites and webshop solutions. If all of this sounds a bit complicated you might want to consider contacting a Web design agency like this web design web bureau in Aalborg. If it makes perfect sense, then you are most likely ready for your next web design project.

Who is your audience?

The first thing you need to consider is – who is your target audience – your websites visitors? It is mainly older people, if so, you may want to increase the font size, make your contact info more visible, maybe even focus more on the phone number instead of a contact form. Something I have seen several times is that a lot of older people are often having a hard time using a contact form. Small stuff like filling out the email field correctly and such isn’t always logical for many elders. Certain types of people prefer certain colors or fonts which will make them feel more at home on your website. Colors and fonts can also make your products or brand appear more exclusive or cheap depending on your choices.

The company’s visual identity

And to make things even more difficult, you don’t only need to think about the target audience, but also keep in mind that the website is an online representation of the company that owns it. So in most cases, you will also need to consider using a style and colors that fit the visual identity of the company behind it. It can be quite challenging to find a style that represents the company and at the same time are as appealing as possible to the visitors.

Mobile-first

Another thing to keep in mind is that here in 2022 your website will most likely have more people visiting from a mobile device and not a desktop computer. Since 2014 the amount of mobile traffic has just increased each year, and around 2017 more people were using a phone and not a computer to visit a website. So when designing your website you will need to use a  web design that is responsive, which means that it should work on both a computer, a tablet and a mobile phone. And don’t spend too much time making it look stunning on a desktop instead of creating a web design that is very functional on a mobile phone. Something most web designers often tend to do.

UX and usability

Giving the visitors the best possible experience is crucial. People no longer have the patience they once had, so if they can’t find what they are looking for fast, or your website is too slow at loading they will just leave and visit another site instead. This is something that several search engines like Google have also started to notice. They want to give their users the best possible results when they search for something. So now having a fast and stable layout is something that can boost your rankings on the search engines. Not having can even hurt your rankings. So having a fast website that is easy to navigate and use is one of the most important aspects of web design in 2022.

Consider the site’s main function

Many tend to get caught up in building a web design that looks good and appealing but before you even start on the design you need to consider – what is the purpose of the site? Is it a webshop selling products online? A local plumber who wants people from the area to call him or something entirely else? Getting people to take certain actions on your website is often the main function of a website and often the whole reason it exists. For instance, I often see webshops where the add to cart buttons have colors that nicely blends in with the rest of the site and looks good. But they can be hard to spot and will make it harder for some people to buy the products you want to sell.

So before even starting on the web design, find out what is it that you want the site to do? What features are required to do so? Who is the audience and who is the owner? And be sure to make it mobile-friendly, user friendly and of course lightning fast.

While it might be tempting to buy a theme that offers a lot of things you need, keep in mind that with such a theme you often get a lot more. And most of that extra stuff are things you don’t need but are often still loaded when someone visits the site. So the whole process of finding the right theme can also be quite the job, especially if you want a fast website.