Here at Pintaya Design Co. we proudly recommend Wordpress as a content management system for our clients. Wordpress is used by almost 20% of the top ten million websites on the web and is the most popular blogging system in use on the web. We love it's approachable user interface that allows businesses of every size and skill level to develop their online presence easily and afford-ably. Gone are the days of prohibitively expensive fully custom coded websites as Wordpress and content management platforms like it, offer pre-made templates which can be customized by design professionals to convey a tech-savvy and professional image to your customers.
That being said, navigating the web design and web development world all by yourself can be a challenge and it's easy to get lost in the decision making and come out with a scrambled and hectic website that doesn't represent the vision you originally had for your company. So here are some tips to help you stay on track.
1. Don't assume an expensive theme is the best theme. Rather than selecting a theme based on how aesthetically pleasing the theme preview is or by how well a theme has been marketed, try assessing the theme for the features it offers instead. Like any other purchase make sure you do your research before committing to any one template. You'll want to take a number of things into consideration. For example:
- Are you going to customize the your web design with your own code? If so, consider a simpler template that will allow you to add in your customization with out too much hassle. A simpler design will mean you need to wade through less code in order to implement yours.
- What features on a website will best highlight your business? If you're selling goods online you'll need a theme that can easily be developed into an eCommerce site. Or perhaps you need a place to display strong visuals of your portfolio, in which case you should consider a slider and a theme that has a gallery page template built into it. One less thing for you to worry about!
2. After you've selected your theme there are a few tips you may want to consider to keep the design of your site optimal:
- The fewer fonts the better! Your best bet when navigating typography is to choose one font that looks clear, professional and accurately conveys the atmosphere you're looking for. Then, instead of deviating from this font by introducing other fonts in your titles, subtitles, posts, etc. use a variant of your original font choice. Varying the weight, color, and style of one font type can be an effective strategy for balancing the entire design of your site.
- COLORING. I have written this word in capitals for good reason. As a designer, I believe the color palette may be one of the most important choices you make when mapping out your site design. The color palette you adopt for your web design makes an immediate impression on your audience and will inevitably make them feel welcome and at peace on your landing page (exactly how you want them to feel) or off-put and uncomfortable in which case they will quickly bounce away (bad). If you're not well versed in the art of color selection or you're unsure which colors will make for the best backdrop to your business consult an artistic friend, a professional or a friendly, artistic, professional!
3. Tread Softly! And by that I mean, a subtle, professional, clean and minimalist web design is far easier to pull off than an eclectic, loud, dynamic, busy one. The latter CAN be pulled off tastefully but if you're putting together a DIY site and you're unsure about the nature of the industry be measured in your design decisions. Go for neutral tones, tall, well-spaced fonts. It will be a much less stressful process to build a balanced, plainer website and inject personality tastefully afterwards than it will be if you go hog-wild from the get go and get lost in your over-excited, unfocused, messy design.
So there you have it! Some design tips to help you navigate your web design process. We hope you found our guidance useful. If you read through this hoping to be enlightened and instead came away confused please feel free to give us a call and we'd be happy to help you work through your design dilemmas. We encourage business owners in their DIY web projects and we'd be happy to help you feel gratified at the end of the process.
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