Good web designers don’t work in a vacuum. When you start your discussion, they will ask you what you want to achieve with your new website, who your customers are and what you have in mind. Website content, consisting of photos, text and graphics need to be discussed. A good start is searching for websites in your line of work that you admire and think achieve your goals. The designer will ask why you like certain websites and whether your budget will support something similar.
TEXT
You may already have text from a previous website that you want to update or you may have none at all. Brochures, reports and other publications may offer you a good start. The designer or content developer will take this to edit into something usable for the new website, keeping in mind what key words need to be added for search engine optimization. This is a start and you will have to involved in the editing to make it work for you.
GRAPHICS AND PHOTOGRAPHY
If you have a logo, that is a good place to start for color exploration. Not having a good logo may provide an opportunity to include that design in your agreement. Photographs you may already have should enhance your color palette and brand. If you do have good photography, the designer will suggest or select the ones that will be placed on the home page. Another option is to purchase high quality photographs from a stock agency. Designers will look for photographs with the right colors and style for your site.
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Mapping out the layout is key to good user experience. Your visitors will need a clear understanding of what you do and how you will help them. Your designer will create a design that provides a satisfying pathway for a visitor who follows through with a call of email to find out more.
SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH
When all the functionality is set and the layout is finished, your designer will launch the site and make sure everything is working correctly. Flow, typos, links and software kinks need to be worked out. Your site should have a security certificate and your new site should be added to search engines and social networks. Incoming marketing efforts can begin to provide traffic to your site which can then be tracked.
Your involvement as website owner is necessary to achieve good results from your website from the very beginning to the end!