3 Step Process for a Great Website Design Project

By 16 Comments

great website design

Want to create an amazing web presence?

You might be thinking to start from:

  • A great web design
  • Color scheme
  • Number of pages you required etc.

But, have you ever thought why the world’s most successful websites in the likes of Google, Facebook, Apple have really, really simple front end designs?

Do you know why?

Because they know really well “why” people visit their websites.

For example Google’s main business is “Search” and when you land on Google.com you see no distractions, one big call to action which is a “Search Box”.

You enter your search term and boom, you start using Google’s product i.e “search”.

How cool, easy and fast process is this from a visitor to converting into a product user.

Don’t forget that “Search” is Google’s main product and this is what they want majority of the visitors to use and how easy they have made it for the visitors.

Do you know why you are building a website?

What is your main product?

As a marketer or business owner, you must concentrate on establishing:

  • Why people visit your website (can’t insist more on the importance of this)
  • How you can make the process from a visitor to product or service user really smooth, easy, low risk and fast.

Once you figure out the above two things, website development process will be really easy and your conversion ratio be lot better.

There are plenty of small businesses who want to develop great websites but will hardly achieve their goals because:

“They often can’t figure out “why” people visit their website really well”

As a business owner or marketer it is your responsibility to find out “why” your business exist and let the professionals to help you to sort out how to answer that question using technology.

Don’t try to invent the wheel again.

Learn best practices from the big guys to create a great web design because you can’t know better than Google about the user behaviour.

  1. Decide why you need a website.
  2. What one action you want your website visitors to take on each page of your website
  3. Work with professionals to help you to reflect the above two points on your website.

Most business owners spend majority of their time figuring out technical stuff, which can be done really easily by the professionals once you know the first 2 parts.

Let me know your thoughts or experiences in the comments below.

 

About Rana

Rana is an Internet Marketing Consultant and the founder of All Marketing Solutions. He is helping small businesses to create online visibility, build authority and get more leads using social media. Google+

  • http://bit.ly/vsjx5m Jeanne Pi

    That’s the reason I stay away from large aggregate sites that try to cater everyone with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Especially for small businesses, the key is to have a laser-focus on exactly what your customer wants and give it to them without them having to work hard for it.

    • http://www.ranashahbaz.com/ Rana Shahbaz

      @appsblogger:disqus Totally agreed, staying *laser focus* on your customers needs is the key to success. Thank you for sharing your thoughts :-)

  • http://twitter.com/MightyWiseMedia Eric T. Wagner

    Hi Rana…

    True indeed.  Make it obvious.  Like really obvious.  What exactly do you want your visitors to do at your website?  What is your main objective?

    Do the 6 foot back test:  Stand 6 feet away from your monitor.  Is it obvious what you are supposed to do on the website as a visitor?  If not, no good.

    Just like you pointed out with Google.  Standing 6 feet back from the screen, it’s pretty clear they want me to stick some words in the box.  Right?  :-)

    Thanks Rana…  Eric

    • http://www.ranashahbaz.com/ Rana Shahbaz

      Thank you @twitter-433530146:disqus for clarifying my point more in details. Really liked your idea about the “6 Foot Back Test”.

  • http://www.ryanhanley.com/ Ryan Hanley

    Rana,

    Simplicity and Focus.  Why are people coming to my site?  Do I have too much going on?  What do people actually do when there?

    All questions I need to ask myself on a more regular basis.

    Great post!

    Ryan H.

    • http://www.ranashahbaz.com/ Rana Shahbaz

      Thank you @ryanhanley:disqus for sharing your thoughts.

  • http://twitter.com/SteveBainesBiz Steve Baines

    Hey Rana,

    That’s some solid, simple advice.  It’s like going into a store that has tons of different stuff, and tons of different options for each product. You become overwhelmed, confused, frustrated.  I like Eric’s “6 Foot Test” a lot. I think I need to take that test and this post and go look at my own website!

    • http://www.ranashahbaz.com/ Rana Shahbaz

      Thank you Steve for sharing your thoughts and I am glad that you found the post simple and solid :-)

  • http://ryzeonline.com/ JasonFonceca

    Rana, this reminds me of a few other posts I’ve read this week, and one I wrote a few weeks ago, and the deep, clear, “why” is a driving force behind any successful business, so I’m glad to see more focus on it.

    So can I ask… what’s your “why” ?

    • http://www.ranashahbaz.com/ Rana Shahbaz

      Thank you Jason for your comment.

      If you could not figure out my “why” from this blog then it is a big concern for me. :-)

      • http://ryzeonline.com/ JasonFonceca

         lol… well “All Marketing Solutions” seems like “what”, and the about page didn’t have a heading marked “why” so… I just thought I’d ask :)

  • Meagan

    Great post Rana. I know why I have a site… to educate creative business owners on how to successfully grow their businesses, but the thing I need to remember more is to focus each page on one action, one point. I think I try to pack too much into one place. I also need to do a better job of making sure my pages are easy to navigate too and from. I wonder if there’s a plugin that helps with that sort of thing?

  • http://twitter.com/Peter_Sandeen Peter Sandeen

    Hi Rana,

    Google really is an example any business can learn from. Even though most businesses offer more “complicated” things than “just” search. You home page is the most important page of your site, and it definitely should be goal oriented.

  • http://twitter.com/HectorAvellaned Hector Avellaneda

    I think you hit the nail on the head with one Rana. If you truly know why someone will want to visit your site this is what is going to make all the difference. Sometime is hard to be objective however when working on your own site. It’s always good to ask someone else to look at your site for you and give you feedback.

  • http://outcareyourcompetition.com/ Jordan J. Caron

    Rana,

    I’ve been reading a lot of the top bloggers and the design of their sites are very simple, clean and easy to understand why you should follow them.

    We have little time to convey our marketing messages through our websites before people leave. If we give them the why as soon as possible, we increase the odds they’ll stay on the site longer.

    Thanks for this Rana!

  • Akhtar wattoo

    Hi Rana !
                  I want to make a site.will u guide me what are usefull tools to start making my website.