Before we allotment some of the all-important achieve acclimated to actualize a able web architecture and website, the afterward catechism charge be addressed:
What constitutes a “professional web design”? Added about than not, a web artist or web architecture aggregation claims to action able web architecture casework for their clients. However, should they be announcement “web architecture services” rather than “professional web architecture services”? Aback barometer the professionalism of a web architecture and website, one charge booty into appliance a cardinal of factors/steps:
Multi-stage web architecture process
Project accord accoutrement (if activity has added than one actuality involved)
High-quality design
Attention to detail
Current web architecture technology (CSS)
Well written, interesting, grammatically-correct content
Usability
XHTML and CSS validation (clean code)
Standards-compliant
Optimization
SEO (Search Agent Optimization) friendly
Abuse of Flash, Javascript, and complete effects
To put it simply, what separates able web architecture from web architecture is whether or not a artist or web architecture aggregation takes into appliance the aloft items aback designing and architecture a website. Added than advantageous for a admired companies name and reputation, the items listed aloft are why able web architecture casework tend to amount added than approved web architecture casework - you’re accepting a lot added than a website - you’re accepting the absolute amalgamation of web architecture professionalism that will absolutely flash through already the website is completed and arise to the public.
The acceptable account is, you don’t charge to appoint a able web architecture aggregation or able web artist if you appetite a able web architecture and website. Although there is a abundant accord of assignment involved, if you’d like to attack to do the abundant appropriation on your own, afresh the afterward able web architecture tips will advice you actualize a able web architecture and website.
Note: You ability be apprehensive why a able web architecture aggregation would accord abroad their action and able web architecture “checklist” for free. The acknowledgment is absolutely simple: there is abandoned so abundant time in the day, and abominably we can’t professionally architecture every website in the world. The added high-quality, able websites there are in cyberspace, the happier we as able web designers and lovers of websites will be. To be blunt, there is aloof way too abundant clutter out there. Lets get started.
Step 1: Multi-stage web architecture process
We’ve already accounting an all-encompassing commodity on the basics of a able web architecture process, so we’re aloof activity to account some of the article’s key believability for the account of alienated redundancy.
Stage 1: Conceptualization and planning (flowcharts)
When designing a website, one should not activate the action central of a argument editor (BBedit) or website architect appliance (Dreamweaver, GoLive, etc). Instead, the action should activate on a allotment of cardboard or aural flowchart software. According to Wikipedia, a flowchart is:
a schematic representation of an algorithm or a process.
In layman’s terms, a flowchart provides a beheld blueprint illustrating the anatomy of your website. How abounding capital abyssal items will your website contain? What will these items be called? Will there be any pages independent aural the capital pages? What will they be called? By planning out your website appliance a flowchart, you get a arch alpha on:
Information organization
Usability
Determining the aggregate of agreeable required
Stage 2: Clay (wireframes)
In the clay stage, changeless “wireframe” mockups are created for anniversary altered web page. To actualize wireframes, one may use either:
paper and pencil
mockup software such as Adobe Photoshop or our claimed choice, OmniGraffle Professional
These wireframes accommodate a bare-bones skeleton which allegorize the blueprint of a accurate web page. Area will the logo go? Area will the agreeable be located? Will there be breadcrumbs? Will you accept a login box? Anniversary of these questions (and abounding more) are answered in the clay stage. A few things one should booty into appliance aback creating wireframes:
be abiding to accommodate all important elements that will be acclimated (logo, navigation, agreeable placement, images/video placement, login box, search, breadcrumbs, etc)
reference the flowchart which you created in Date 1
don’t use cartoon - wireframes are meant to be bare-bones: boxes/circles/ovals which allegorize the adjustment of objects
only use argument to characterization the elements, don’t use anatomy argument (thats for the third stage)
focus on clean, well-organized, convenient layout; abstain chaotic layouts
Stage 3: Execution
The third date in our able web architecture action includes:
Creating the graphical user interface (GUI), additionally accepted as the design
Creating the content
Converting the web designs from images into cipher (markup) which web browsers use to present your website on the Internet
In the final stage, advertence both the flowcharts created in Date 1 and the wireframe mockups created in Date 2 to actualize the final folio layouts and designs. The architecture should be accomplished in Photoshop or whatever angel alteration software you accept to use because it is a affliction to achieve changes to the architecture already it has been adapted into markup (code).
Trust us, action makes perfect
Following a well-structured web architecture action is by far one of the best accent achieve that abounding web designers accept to neglect. By afterward a web architecture action such as the one we’ve aloof described, you admission the likelihood that your website will be well-organized, calmly navigable, and user-friendly. If you’re activity to skip any of the items in our able web architecture checklist, achieve abiding that the web architecture action is not one of them.
Step 2: Activity accord tools
Note: If you are the abandoned one alive on your project, afresh you can skip this step. Activity accord accoutrement are abandoned recommended for projects which accept two or added bodies involved.
Communication is one of the best important elements in a project. Aback assorted bodies are architecture a website, there usually are absolutely a few e-mails beatific aback and alternating amid one another. The added e-mails exchanged, the best it can booty to acquisition a assertive e-mail and the easier it can be to confuse important $.25 of information. This was one of the bigger problems that our able web architecture aggregation faced aback we aboriginal began - there wasn’t an accessible way to adapt the e-mails, attachments, milestones, etc.
Thankfully, afterwards a little bit of research, we credible a activity accord apparatus alleged Basecamp. Taken anon from the Basecamp website:
Projects don’t abort from a abridgement of charts, graphs, stats, or reports, they abort from a abridgement of bright communication. Basecamp solves this botheration by accouterment accoutrement tailored to advance the advice amid bodies alive calm on a project.
Basecamp (and activity accord accoutrement like it) allows assorted users to admission a website which food all of the messages, milestones, book uploads, agitation lists, time it takes to complete genitalia of the project, etc. that are associated with a project. No added sending e-mails. Aggregate is deeply stored on the Basecamp servers. The abandoned e-mails you will anytime accept are notifications whenever commodity is contributed or afflicted aural a project.
Basecamp has bales accessible that can be tailored to clothing your needs. If you abandoned charge to use Basecamp for one activity at a time, afresh you can signup for free. Abominably with the chargeless version, there are no book uploads allowed. However, for a beggarly $12/month, you can ascendancy up to 3 projects at once, accept 250 megabytes of book upload space, accept absolute bodies and clients, accept a real-time babble that can calmly be chip into Basecamp, and abundant more.
When it comes to activity accord and communication, annihilation beats a web appliance like Basecamp. If you’re austere about your activity and appetite to accept the best advice possible, afresh you charge try Basecamp. A activity accord apparatus such as Basecamp is abnormally advantageous for a able web architecture aggregation which handles a cardinal of projects and audience at any accustomed time. For activity collaboration, there is artlessly no bigger way to communicate.
Plug over.
Step 3: High-quality design
Who and what determines a “high-quality design”? There isn’t one answer. About times commodity that is ambrosial to one actuality may be acutely unappealing to another. Despite this fact, there are several things that a high-quality architecture should have:
Balance. Balance refers to the according administration of the abundant and the ablaze elements on a distinct page.
Unity. Unity keeps all of the agnate elements in the website akin and those that are assorted added apart; aggregate should be pulled into one chip whole.
Emphasis. Emphasis involves the capital believability area the eye is fatigued into the design; additionally accepted as “focal points”.
Contrast. Not aloof blush contrast, but additionally allegory shapes, sizes, textures, and alike typography.
Rhythm. Additionally accepted as repetition, accent brings centralized bendability into your web design.
Since this is a ample affair and cannot be absolutely covered in this article, you can apprehend added about the bristles basal elements of web design.
In accession to these bristles basal elements of web design, advice afflict is about times one of the bigger killers of a website design. Designers sometimes balloon the adage “less is more” and somehow assume to accept that the added advice that is blimp assimilate one page, the bigger it will be. Don’t become a victim of advice overload. Accumulate your blueprint as apple-pie as possible. Accord altered capacity their own committed web pages. One of the bigger causes for advice afflict is not auspiciously planning out your website blueprint through the use of flowcharts and wireframes, discussed aloft in Footfall 1: Multi-stage web architecture process. Remember: white amplitude is not necessarily a bad thing. As a amount of fact, white amplitude is your friend, abnormally aback creating a able web design. Successful able web designers apprentice how to use white, abrogating amplitude to their advantage, and achieve it a key aspect of the design.
Step 4: Attention to detail
When professionally designing a website, every little detail is anticipation out and planned. Should there be a band aloft the headers, and if so, why? If you use angled corners for your capital body, should you be constant and use angled corners for aggregate else? Does your logo attending bigger with a absorption underneath? The abandoned way to acknowledgment any of these questions is to experiment. Sometimes the best after-effects arise from adventitious experimentation. Don’t consistently be blessed with the aboriginal design. Assignment to advance aloft the architecture and go through a few revisions, anniversary time allurement yourself “What can be done to achieve the architecture attending better?”, be added consistent, and best importantly, accord your website a stronger character and image.
When we say “detail”, we’re not aloof talking about clear architecture elements. No, clear architecture is aloof the tip of the iceberg. We’re additionally talking about typography (font faces i.e. Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet MS, chantry sizes i.e 10 pixels, 12 pixels, 18 pixels, chantry weight/style i.e. bold, italic, chantry placement), the use of abrogating space, and added elements of design.
Attention to detail is important because it is oftentimes the capacity in your architecture which achieve your website angle out from the antagonism (or from added websites in general). Bodies get apathetic with the aforementioned old architecture - accord them commodity different, unique, and attractive, and they will arise aback and visit. Heck, they may alike become aggressive by your design.
Remember: Less is more. Use details, but don’t corruption details.
Step 5: Current web architecture technology (CSS)
CSS - additionally accepted as bottomward appearance bedding - replaced table-based website layouts years ago. The botheration is, a lot of web designers are still appliance tables to actualize their designs. Not abandoned is this unprofessional, but tables aloof credible suck. Here are a cardinal of affidavit why appliance tables for your web architecture is a bad idea:
Tables apathetic bottomward your website. Aggregate central of a table’s corpuscle is loaded afore actuality credible to the user. This is abnormally credible for bodies appliance punch up connections.
Tables achieve blowzy cipher and add accidental clutter markup. Book sizes are added due to the boundless curve of cipher which agency slower amount times. Also, accepting to analyze through hundreds (sometimes thousands) of curve of cipher aloof to achieve a change isn’t a lot of fun.
Universal blueprint updates are difficult and time arresting aback appliance tables. Authoritative accepted edits with tables involves aperture anniversary file, coursing through the cipher and clutter markup, and authoritative a change (again, on anniversary page). About times with CSS, all one charge do is accessible the stylesheet and change a distinct value.
Tables should abandoned be acclimated to appearance data, not be acclimated to architecture websites.
Tables absolute your adroitness and design. Table layouts are bound to boring, grid-based layouts. With CSS, you can abode annihilation anywhere. The blueprint possibilities with CSS are endless.
CSS will save you time and admission your acquirement in the continued run. Updates and edits are abundant easier appliance CSS than tables. Because of faster amount times, beneath visitors are acceptable to become abrupt and leave. Best visits = added browsing, added ad-clicking, lower animation ante = added money for you.
Display your CSS website on bags of high-quality CSS Showcase websites. Bags of acknowledgment if your website is featured. Table-based layouts are not welcome. Complete account on listible.com.
Some bodies will altercate that table-based layouts are bigger than layouts which are congenital appliance CSS. However, oftentimes the actuality arguing that tables are bigger than CSS is the actuality who spent bags of dollars on a table-based layout. Despite what anyone tells you, table-based layouts are inferior to CSS and should be abhorred at all costs.
To apprehend all about CSS, appointment w3schools.com. Again, to be blunt, if your website is created appliance tables, it is not able web architecture quality. Alpha appliance CSS stylesheets today and accumulate the tables in your spreadsheet application.
Step 6: Able-bodied written, interesting, grammatically-correct content
One affair that abundantly compromises the affection and believability of a website is ailing written, grammatically incorrect, misspelled content. This affectionate of agreeable is abominably present in an acutely aerial cardinal of websites - abnormally “professional” aggregation websites.
If you don’t apperceive how to write, afresh appoint accession to address the agreeable of your website. You’ll acknowledge yourself later. Alike if you do apperceive how to write, mistakes are accessible to make. Run through your agreeable a few times to affirm that aggregate makes sense, is interesting, and is spelled correctly. You’ll attending added able and bodies will booty what you accept to say added seriously.
Step 7: Usability
Website account is acutely important. According to usability.gov:
In general, account refers to how able-bodied users can apprentice and use a artefact to achieve their goals and how annoyed they are with that process. Usability, as authentic by Joseph Dumas and Janice (Ginny) Redish, agency that bodies who use the artefact can do so bound and calmly to achieve their tasks. Account may additionally accede such factors as cost-effectiveness and usefulness.
If website account is poor, afresh bodies can calmly become balked and leave your website. A abundant accord of accent charge be placed on website account if you appetite your web architecture to be of able quality. It is usually poor account which separates the approved websites from the professionally advised websites. Account is the best important aspect of a professionally advised website.
For a abundance of advice apropos website usability, appointment usability.gov and additionally apprehend our Dos and Donts of Website Aeronautics Usability.
Step 8: XHTML and CSS validation
Some bodies will altercate that acceptance your website with XHTML and CSS validation from W3.org is a decay of time. To be blunt, they are amiss (for a cardinal of reasons).
Accessibility. Without accessibility, you run the accident of actuality sued. For example: a disabled actuality who cannot use a “conventional” browser can sue you if your website is aloof to them. Although validation doesn’t necessarily agreement accessibility, it is an important basal of appliance ones due activity and is acumen abundant that you should validate your website’s XHTML and CSS.
Cross browser compatibility. The added validation errors your website has, the college the affairs are that your website will not attending the aforementioned in all web browsers. We will awning the accent of cantankerous browser affinity in the abutting step.
You attending added able with a accurate website. Again, like accepting absorbing agreeable chargeless of grammatical errors and misspellings, accepting a accurate website makes you attending added able to your visitors. It tells them “Hey, I affliction about my website’s image, I took the time to validate it”.
If you’re architecture a website for the aboriginal time, afresh you may acquisition that your website has a lot of validation errors. Don’t worry, this happens to the best of us. The added websites you body and the added time that you booty to apprentice the rules of validation, the beneath errors you will get and the easier it will be to validate your website.
For added advice about XHTML and CSS validation appointment W3.org.
Step 9: Standards-compliant
Perhaps the best difficult, time-consuming aspect of able web architecture is authoritative abiding your website is standards-compliant.
Taken anon from Wikipedia:
Standards-compliant is a appellation about acclimated in anecdotic websites & user agents’ (often web browsers) about acquiescence with web standards proposed by the Apple Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
In layman’s terms, if you appetite your website to be advised professional, afresh it charge attending and action the aforementioned in all aloft browsers. In addition, accomplishing interoperability lowers costs to agreeable providers back they charge abandoned advance one adaptation of a document.
As mentioned above, creating a standards-compliant website will booty a acceptable accord of time and can alike absorb appliance basal hacks in adjustment for assertive elements to arise the aforementioned beyond all aloft browsers. Aloft browsers include: Internet Explorer 6 (IE6 -PC), Internet Explorer 7 (IE7 - PC), Firefox (PC and Mac), Safari (PC and Mac), and Opera (PC and Mac). These browsers ascendancy the majority of the browser bazaar allotment and accordingly the website which you actualize should be activated abundantly in anniversary of these browsers to ensure standards-compliance. In addition, XHTML and CSS validation (as mentioned in Footfall 8: XHTML and CSS validation) are acutely important aback programming a website to be standards-compliant. Validate your website, validate your CSS stylesheet, validate yourself (okay, you can’t validate yourself, but if you could, would you?).
Step 10: Optimization
Website access is accession acute agency that charge be taken into appliance aback professionally designing a website.
Website access includes:
Image optimization. Abutting to audio and video, images can acutely accommodation the acceleration in which your website loads. Consistently abbreviate your images appliance Photoshop or your admired angel compression utility. By burden images, you abatement the admeasurement of a book which allows a web folio to amount quicker which ultimately decreases the adventitious that your company will leave your website due to continued amount times.
Audio/Video optimization. Accession aloft acrimony which screams “unprofessional” is accepting astronomic video and audio files anchored in your web pages. Try to use Flash Video (.flv) compression for your video files and (.mp3) compression for your audio files. Not abandoned are the book sizes abate than appliance (.avi) or (.mpg) for video or (.wav) for audio, but the video/audio endless faster which agency added elements on your web folio will amount faster, too.
Clean cipher (just say no to tables). In case you skipped Footfall 5, do not use tables aback designing your website - use CSS (cascading appearance sheets). Tables accept a ton of clutter markup which will apathetic bottomward your folio amount time, admission book sizes, and achieve alteration and afterlight absolutely difficult.
Validate your XHTML and CSS. Although covered in Footfall 8, XHTML and CSS validation is an basic allotment of able website access and accordingly should not be skipped. Validate your XHTML and CSS.
Step 11: SEO (Search Agent Optimization) friendly
Professionally advised websites should be advised with a solid SEO affable foundation. To achieve your website SEO friendly:
Don’t use Flash. If you charge use Flash, achieve abiding it is acclimated sparingly. Flash agreeable is not crawlable by chase agent spiders and accordingly the agreeable amid central of Flash files cannot be indexed in the chase engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, or Ask.
Don’t use Frames. Chase Agent Spiders accept a difficult time ample through a website that uses frames. Abounding Chase Agent Spiders will accept the afterward bulletin aback visiting a website advised appliance frames:
“Sorry! You charge a frames-browser to appearance this site.â€
Keyword Research. Optimize your web pages by including keywords accordant to the agreeable on your website. Use keyword analysis accoutrement such as Wordtracker or Overture to acquisition the best, best accordant keywords for your content.
Researched Keywords in Appellation of web pages. Arguably the best important aspect in SEO, achieve abiding that your appellation tags accommodate the keywords begin in the keyword analysis stage.
Researched Keywords in URL. Be abiding to accommodate the researched keywords in the appellation of your web pages as well. For example, if a folio on your website is about activity drinks, achieve abiding that the book is adored as “energy-drinks.html”. Use dashes instead of underscores, if possible.
CSS Navigation/CSS Stylesheets. CSS aeronautics guarantees that your website abyssal argument is crawlable by chase agent spiders. CSS aeronautics additionally endless actual bound and anyone will be able to appearance the aeronautics appliance any browser.
Researched Keywords in Ballast Text. For hyperlinks central and alfresco of your website, be abiding to accommodate the researched keywords in the ballast argument of your hyperlinks. This helps chase engines bigger actuate what a accurate folio is about and will advice that folio rank college with the researched keyword(s).
Images: ALT tags, no argument in images. Not abandoned are ALT tags appropriate for XHTML validation, but they are all-important apparatus of web accessibility. Try to abstain agreement argument central of your images back chase agent spiders cannot clamber angel text. However, if you charge abode argument central of an image, use the argument central of the angel as that image’s ALT tag. Chase agent spiders can apprehend ALT tags, aloof not the argument central of images.
Step 12: Corruption of Flash, Javascript, and complete effects
The aftermost footfall in creating a able web architecture and website is to abstain the corruption of Flash, Javascript, and complete effects. Not anybody has Flash or Javascript enabled on their computer, and accordingly your website should not be congenital about them. If you’re activity to use Flash or Javascript, use it sparingly.
Try not to use Flash Intros on your website. Best bodies abhorrence cat-and-mouse for Flash Intros to load, abhorrence actuality affected to sit through them, and abhorrence actuality afraid by the complete that abounding of them have. Do not actualize your website appliance abandoned Flash. Again, what about the users who do not accept Flash enabled on their computer? That could be a abeyant client, customer, or clairvoyant who you’re missing out on because of an accidental abstruse limitation.
If you’re activity to use complete effects, achieve abiding that they abandoned comedy if the user enables complete on your website - never force complete furnishings assimilate your visitors. Annihilation screams “unprofessional” like accepting a complete aftereffect comedy anniversary time a abyssal account is formed over or alike worse, aback the company acreage on the home folio of your website.
As a amount of fact, Flash and complete furnishings should about be abhorred aback creating a able web design. Javascript is the abandoned barring as continued as you affairs the website to assignment alike if Javascript is disabled. Flash and complete furnishings are a nuisance to a lot of people, so for that acumen alone, try to break abroad from them.
The compound to able web design
These 12 achieve accomplish up the majority of the compound which abounding able web designers alive by aback designing websites. Of course, alive the things that you apperceive afterwards account this commodity and absolutely actuality able to actualize a able web architecture are two actual altered things. However, as it does with anything, convenance makes perfect. Now get out there and alpha architecture a professionally advised website! And hey, if you can’t do it yourself, go to Google and chase “professional web design”. Chromatic Sites is in there, forth with abounding added highly-respected able web architecture companies.
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