Web Design

Web design is composed of several regulation and skills in website maintenance and creation. It is important for web designers to have perception of usability. If their job requires them to create mark up, then they should also be up-to-date with the recent web accessibility guidelines.

Web designers utilize various tools, depending on their production process. These platforms and tools are being updated as the years progress, but the concepts behind them are the same. Moreover, there are other testing tools for accessibility and usability to make sure that web accessibility guidelines are met.

The following are the most popular and most used web design tools.

1.Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a popular and important software for graphic designers. This software can be utilized in both Apple and Windows’ operating systems. Its main functions are website design, photo editing, and element creations for any kind of project. You can also use this for creating posters and business cards.

Adobe Photoshop can be very useful for professionals, but its abilities to render or edit text is limited. However, if you want, you can expand its features by installing plug-ins. These are programs distributed and developed independently by Photoshop.

2.Font Base

Font Base is a management tool that you can install for free, and is compatible in all 3 major operating systems. It provides a great visual Graphical User Interface (GUI) for all your fonts, and organizes them by font foundries, custom folders and collections. Through this, you can experiment with several fonts, and you can also acquire dynamic web fonts from the Google library. This is considered as the best tool for font management.

3.Sketch App

Sketch is a dependable professional graphic editor for Mac users. It is a design platform that uses a complete vector-based workflow. It can be used by all kind of developers, from website and UI designers to product and UX designers.

Sketch App is very easy to learn and utilize. If you are a new user, you will surely love this. Make sure to adapt to this software, and open invitation to begin creating some shapes. It also offers cool features—it auto saves your project and workflow.

4.IconJar

IconJar organizes all of your icons in single place. It not only stores every icon that you utilize, it also makes it more convenient for you to look for your icons in various folders. The search option has been developed and designed with efficiency and speed. The downside? It only runs in Mac OS.

5.Figma

Figma is a reliable UI design tool, and collaborative interface design platform. It is the very first design software that is based on the browser, making it more manageable for teams to build platforms. There is no need to download, upload and worry about installing new versions again. It is the ultimate source for design files, and can be used using any operating system—Mac, Windows or Linux). If you want to upload mockups, export CSS and share designs, you will find this tool useful.

A creative website is actually quite easy to do, provided that you have a plan of action beforehand. Here are some incredible design tips shared by some real and professional web design companies:

1. First Impressions Should Last

Your website design should be appealing at first sight so that people will actually spend more time looking around.

In fact, whenever a user finds your site through search engines, they should be able to see what your site is all about and what things you have to offer should be known immediately after reaching your page.

Your navigation has to be simple enough, your headline should be attention-grabbing, the use of images should be something that is relevant to what you offer and it has to be interesting and engaging as well.

2. Headlines are Quite Important

Your headline is so important that if they see your message and they believe in what you have to say, then they’re most likely to stay on your site for a while longer.

Since they are so important, here are some things that you need to know in order to create a catchy headline:

• The headline should be direct to the point. If it can be explained in only one sentence, then do so
• How do your products and services differ from other companies?
• Use a tool like Google Analytics to find out which style will be most useful in attracting your audience
• Do not use industry jargon
• Highlight only one or two features.

The reason why it has to be so short is to make it so that it will be a. easier to see and b. easier for navigation.

It also helps if you can use a large and suitable font for your headlines. Again, your aim here is to make it attention-grabbing as much as possible.

Also, put your headline front and center and it has to be “above the fold”, meaning that it should be placed directly on the landing page.

3. The Proper Use of Imagery is Necessary

Using the proper photos on your website is necessary because it can help them make a buying decision when they see relevant images. This is especially true if you sell multiple products.

Now, here are some things that you need to know about the imagery:

• Make sure to capture photos yourself; do not use stock photos
• If capturing your own images is not possible, you can use some stock photos but make sure that you’ve acquired them legally by paying the contributor
• It should be something that is totally relevant to the product or service you’re offering
• You must not use a background that grabs attention away from the images you use. Use a subtle background that will help amplify the image instead.
• Never use any photo filters or any photo-altering software just to enhance your images. You have to capture high-quality images from the get-go.

Conclusion

Remember, your website’s design should serve a purpose and it has to grab the attention of the audience in as little as 5 seconds.

Clever use of headlines and imagery can really help make them stay on your site a while longer. And who knows, they might turn into customers and avail your products and services.

If you’re looking to design a website for professional or business use, you might find that you either lack creative freedom or you just do not know how to implement some things that are appropriate for the scenario.

So what I am going to do today is impart some tips on how you can quickly improve your web design skills. Read on to find out because even the best web design companies implement these tips!

1. Wireframe Using Grayscale Design

When doing something that requires planning, you can wireframe certain elements of your web page so that you will know how to tackle things.

If you do it, make sure to use only shades of gray first so that you will know how things will turn out. Once the structure has been made, slowly incorporate images and colors to bring things to life.

2. Use Different Types of Fonts to Suit the Taste

Designing corporate websites are different because you have to use fonts in a professional manner. Using different combinations of fonts is a big no-no in corporate websites. However, if you do not know which font to use, what are you going to do?

Well, you can browse through using Google Fonts to find the one that suits the tone of your business. It is a large collection and it can really help you find some interesting styles that you otherwise wouldn’t know if you didn’t use the platform.

3. Simple Navigation is Key

Simplifying navigation is important in corporate websites. You want people to access certain pages of your site in a few clicks as possible.

To do that, you could start by removing drop-down menus as they are old and outdated. Next, you can implement breadcrumbs so that whenever a user wants to go a few pages back, they can instantly do so.

4. Get Inspiration from Nature

Now, although we want to make sure that a corporate website will look as professional as possible, this is not to say that you cannot use certain colors, especially ones that were inspired by nature.

If you have a hard time thinking about which color to use, go out and explore nature. Take a long walk along scenic routes or you can even just browse through different nature photos on the web.

Looking at such graphics will inspire you on which color you need to choose for the website.

5. Use Mood Boards

In the spirit of getting inspiration, another way you can do so is by creating mood boards. This really helps a designer, specifically, when they’re experiencing what is known as a creative “tunnel vision.”

Go to an image platform like Pinterest and get as many relevant images as you can. Paste them on a digital board and be creative enough by adding colors, layouts, and different patterns until you can find one that works.

6. Do Not Put Social Media Icons Just About Anywhere

Instead, put them somewhere in the middle of your web pages or at the footer section. The reason is that you want the people who flock to your site to spend as much time as possible and adding social icons at the beginning of your page or content just defeats the purpose of creating them in the first place.

7. Squint It to Get It

If you want to know which website elements that you’ve implemented are the most prominent, you have to do the squint test.

To do this, you just take a step or two back from your computer screen and then squint. All the prominent graphical elements will be known to you when doing this and you can change things accordingly until both you and your clients are satisfied.

Conclusion

As a designer, you might think that you really can’t exercise creative freedom when designing a corporate website. However, that is just not the case. Yes, you have to follow some rules, but the thing is, you can be creative in other areas instead.

Enlisting the help of a web design company to design your business website doesn’t only mean that you’re giving them a project to work on, but you’re entrusting the future of your business to them. Sadly, there so many of us asked the wrong questions and pay attention to the wrong things. There are 3 important questions you must ask if you ever planning on hiring a web design company; about seo marketing strategy, website optimization, and updates. Do not make a mistake that will cost your business and resources because you didn’t ask these 3 questions.

Here are the 3 important questions:

Do You Have An SEO Specialist?

This is important because it’ll affect the cost and budget for your website. Not only that, you need to have and ready with information architecture before the designer steps in and starts the project. Because every business websites should always be built around relevant, and business critical keywords. Every pages has it purpose, but to make it work online it must be built around relevant keywords. Keywords function as signboards to guide people/traffic to your website. A website without proper keywords is like a shop without a signboard or flyer ads.

So, an SEO specialist will do keyword research on keywords that are relevant to your business and will develop SEO strategy. Using the seo marketing strategy they have had devised, they will attract and guide traffic to your website, boosting your website rank when more and more traffic discovered it. Think of it like putting up a giant advertisement billboard or banner telling and directing people to your newly opened shop, so when more people knows about your shop it’ll become famous and known by more people, simply put, like i mentioned earlier it is like a signboard.

Is Website Optimization Included?

Most clients tend to forget to ask this questions, because of this they ended up with a website that loads too slow. Bear in mind that not every web design companies provide website optimization because it requires a huge amount of resources, planning, testing, evaluation and smooth execution.

Slow loading pages will have low visitors engagement and low average time with increased bounce rates. This will affect your website rankings because Google use users behaviour to determine rankings. The higher the bounce on your website, the lower your site rank will be. At worst it Google might even remove it.

How Can I Update My Website Later In The Future?

Whenever the website building process is completed, make sure to ask the designer or the person in charge about making updates or changes to the website. Be sure to ask for Content Management System, with you’ll be able to change and update the website at anytime.

Save These Questions In Your Head

These questions are very, very crucial for both you and the web design agency you going to hire, because it will save both sides from misunderstanding and to avoid yourself from spending more than you supposed to. By knowing what services a digital and web design agency has to offer, you can make comparison to see which agency offer the best services package.