Discover The Most Important Aspect of Website Design

Those of us of a certain age will remember the old Saturday Night Live sketch in which Billy Crystal states, in his best Fernando Lamas accent, “It’s better to look good than to feel good.” Many approach website design with this same idea. However, this method never really works out well. Website design is not just about what it looks like, it is about how the website works. Don’t you agree?

With that in mind, it is your sitemap and user flow that are the most important aspects of website design. You will start the planning stage doing your market research, competitor analysis, and creating user personas. Once that is done, you must then ask yourself, “What are the top 2 or 3 priorities for my website?” How do you perceive a successful website performing? All of this information is used by your developer to create your website’s plan, and building a user flow map that will draw visitors into your sales funnel.

At this stage, designing a sitemap is a crucial tool for visualizing how your website will be organized. It is a strategy to keep your website design user-focused and content-centric. An experienced website designer wants to create a union between your business’ goals and that of the users. At the end of everything, what is best for the user is best for your company.

A good website designer works to anticipate users’ needs and how they will navigate information, using this information to build your website’s hierarchical structure. Possessing a theoretical user flow allows you to understand how visitors will engage with the website and interact with information, creating a path to the ideal user experience.

Ultimately, while every business wants a stunning looking website, the most important thing is ensuring the website does its job. It is important to consider what visitors are going to look for, and how one section should flow into the next. This way, you are both providing for the user’s needs and guiding them to the desired outcome.

What haven’t we covered yet that is important to you? If you would like to talk about the most important aspects of website design, or need more information, please contact us.