3 Important Elements of a Web Design Project
So you’re planning to begin a web design project, or maybe you recently completed your website and the results were less than desirable, or maybe you’re in the middle of your project and have no idea where to go next. Web design, like any other project, requires careful planning and foresight if you want to end up with a finished project that lives up to your expectations. If this is your first web site, or your project has gotten out of hand, that’s okay. With a little bit of project management and planning, you can get your website back on track and published in no time.
Determine the Web Design and Development Requirements
The first step in web design, or for any project management, is to determine and analyze your requirements. Why do you want to build this web site? What is your final goal? Decide what you absolutely need out of your website and build yourself a blueprint to work from.
Know the Focus of the Website
Once you have determined your website’s primary focus, it wise to make sure the project contains all the necessary information to meet that focus, as well as additional information which may be of use to your visitors. This additional information will vary from project to project depending on your site’s focus. Examples of this can include contact information, hours of operation, user support, customer service, and an FAQ section. This information isn’t crucial to your website’s main focus, but serves to supplement it and provide for a better user experience.
Choose a Website Hosting Environment
Finally, before beginning your project it is wise to determine how and where you are going to host your website. Deciding how to your host your project is a crucial aspect of web design project management. You can have a beautifully designed website, but with the wrong kind of hosting your site may become unusable. To determine the right type of hosting for your site, look back to your goals you laid out for your site’s focus. Do you need a simple site to provide basic functionality like displaying information? Or do you need a more powerful website capable of utilizing databases or engaging in e-commerce? Smart web design means picking the right hosting for the right website project.
Its easy for your web design project to get off track. Fortunately, with a little bit of planning and some project management, it is just as easy to get back on track. Before you begin your project, determine your site’s focus. Why are you designing this site? What is necessary for this site to be successful? Once you have determined the primary focus of your site, look to see what supplemental information might be useful. What information can you provide visitors to improve their experience? Finally, take the goals and focus on your web design project in mind and choose the right type of hosting for you. If you have a simple project, don’t spend too much on unnecessary hosting services. Likewise, if your project has more complex functionality and you are expecting heavy traffic, invest in hosting services that will keep your site online and functional.
