Building a website from scratch can be an exciting and rewarding project, but also a challenging and complex one. You need to plan, design, code, test, and launch your website, while ensuring it meets your goals and satisfies your users. How can you make sure your website is successful and stands out from the crowd? Here are some tips to help you along the way.
Before you start coding, you need to have a clear vision of what you want your website to achieve. What is the main problem you are solving, the value you are providing, or the message you are conveying? Who are your target audience and what are their needs and expectations? How will you measure your success and track your progress? Having a well-defined purpose will help you focus your efforts and guide your decisions throughout the project.
Building a successful website requires strategic planning. Define its purpose and audience through market research. Choose a user-friendly, responsive design for seamless navigation. Craft compelling content with clear language and visuals. Prioritize fast loading and robust SEO for visibility. Integrate social media buttons for engagement. Ensure trust with security features. Regularly update and maintain content. Use analytics for data-driven improvements. Actively seek and respond to user feedback. Success hinges on user-centric design, SEO, security, and consistent updates.
Ensure the success of your website by clearly defining its purpose and objectives. Understand the target audience, the intended user experience, and the specific goals the website aims to achieve, laying a solid foundation for strategic design and development decisions.
Firstly you need to know why the client wants a website in the first place. What is the purpose of the website going to be? Is it to get more leads , brand awareness , marketing,selling or offering services. You have to know who the audience is and align the website to that specific audience with that specific purpose.
In my experience, having a clear vision before coding is important. It's about understanding the core problem your website addresses, the value it offers, and its key message. Knowing your target audience, their needs, and expectations is crucial. This clarity will be a compass for your decisions and keep your project focused and aligned with its goals.
The key to a successful website lies in having a crystal-clear understanding of its purpose. This means asking crucial questions: Are you addressing a specific problem, offering unique value, or conveying a particular message? This clarity in purpose becomes the guiding principle for every phase of your website's development. It informs your architectural choices, design elements, and even the minor details of your user interface.
Depending on your skills, budget, and preferences, you can choose from a variety of tools and technologies to build your website from scratch. You can use a text editor and code everything yourself, or you can use a framework or a content management system (CMS) to speed up the process and simplify the maintenance. You can also use online platforms and services to host, deploy, and manage your website. Whatever you choose, make sure you are comfortable with the tools and they suit your needs and goals.
Tools like Astro can be a really good choice when you are building a website completely from scratch. Astro is UI framework agnostic, runs on the server side, manages content pretty well and so on.
Choosing the correct platform for an online store for example can help you save tones of time and money. I love to recommend ready made platforms such as Shopify or Etsy as these simplify the process and make your website come to life quickly. For the novice website owners you don’t want to waste months creating your first online store.
Ensure the success of your website by carefully choosing the right tools and technologies for development, considering factors such as scalability, security, and ease of maintenance. Selecting an appropriate content management system (CMS), programming languages, and design frameworks contributes to efficient development and a robust, successful website.
I'd start by writing down a Pro's and Con's list for various tools/CMS platforms based off the requirements and compatibility. Beginner friendly front-end frameworks/libraries include - React, Vue, Angular. There is also the traditional front-end "trio" - HTML, CSS and vanilla JavaScript. For CMS, I'd recommend Wix, WordPress, Drupal. They're all extremely user-friendly & have tons of free web designs as a starting point!
Select the right technologies and tools for your website. Whether it's content management systems, programming languages, or design software, make informed choices that align with your project's requirements.
Your website should not only look good, but also function well and provide a positive user experience. You need to consider how your users will interact with your website, what they will see, hear, and feel, and how you can make their journey easy and enjoyable. You can use principles of web design, such as layout, typography, color, contrast, and navigation, to create a visually appealing and intuitive website. You can also use web standards, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to ensure your website is accessible, responsive, and compatible with different browsers and devices.
To ensure a successful website, prioritize user-centric design by understanding the needs and preferences of your target audience. Conduct user research, create intuitive navigation, and prioritize responsive design to enhance the overall user experience, fostering engagement and satisfaction.
In my approach to web development, prioritizing accessibility-first design is essential. This means designing websites with the needs of all users in mind, including those with disabilities, right from the start. It involves applying accessibility guidelines such as WCAG and ensuring that elements like navigation, color contrast, and keyboard accessibility are implemented effectively.
In web design, it's crucial to shift our perspective from selling to facilitating. We should view ourselves as helpers, guiding users to the value they seek. To do this effectively, we need a deep understanding of what users are looking for on our website. What is the specific value they aim to gain? With these insights, we can then build our website’s navigation, features, branding, and typography to resonate with their needs. Our design approach should be led by the principle of 'Don't Make Me Think', ensuring an intuitive user journey. This approach creates a seamless flow, gently guiding users towards the information, answers, and value they are searching for.
Yes! My manager always tells me to follow this mantra while trying to design/develop a website. Work on this as if you are a user that is going to use this for your future. Be it a food ordering app, music app or a social media website. Think of yourself as a user and think of options/features that the current app you're using is lacking. Once you have the design ready, ask yourself, is this something you'd use everyday? Is it user-friendly? Is the UI good and smooth? Is it appealing to your eyes? And mostly importantly are the functionalities working?(once developed). Share it within your team or another team for an additional review!
Prioritize user experience (UX) in your design. Create an intuitive and visually appealing layout that guides users seamlessly through your content. Accessibility and responsiveness are key considerations.
Building a website from scratch is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process of testing and improving. You need to test your website regularly and thoroughly, both during and after the development, to identify and fix any errors, bugs, or issues that may affect its performance, functionality, or usability. You can use tools and methods, such as debugging, validation, testing frameworks, and feedback forms, to check your website for errors and get feedback from users. You can also use analytics and metrics, such as traffic, conversions, and bounce rate, to measure your website's effectiveness and make data-driven adjustments.
Iteration is key. In the begining of the process all you have are hypothesis. You need to then test these with actual users, analyze those interactions and improve upon this data. It should be a quite scientific approach.
In web development, the emphasis on testing and iteration is a natural progression from our initial focus on user needs. It involves actively seeking user feedback and employing analytical tools to understand how they interact with our website. This approach allows us to fine-tune features, navigation, and overall usability in alignment with user preferences. Iteration here is not just about resolving issues; it's about evolving our website to continually resonate with the users' evolving needs
Regularly test your website across different browsers and devices. Gather user feedback and analytics to identify areas for improvement. Iterate on your design and functionality to enhance the overall user experience.
Building a website from scratch can be a lonely and daunting task, but you don't have to do it alone. You can collaborate with other web developers, designers, or experts, either online or offline, to get help, advice, or inspiration. You can join communities, forums, or groups, where you can ask questions, share ideas, or showcase your work. You can also participate in events, workshops, or courses, where you can learn new skills, techniques, or trends. Collaborating and learning from others can help you improve your website and your web development skills.
One thing I found highly useful is to consistently review/learn from someone's existing project. Even if you're highly skilled in making creative and interactive mockups, try reviewing someone else's project online. GitHub is a great platform, so is Youtube. Follow YouTube channels that talks about people in the field and try to re-design their projects along with them. This is a great way to learn if you're just getting started! Join discord servers, LinkedIn groups, post on X(formerly Twitter). These are a great way to share your skills/projects and build your network. Open source projects are a great option to showcase your skills and stand out!
Foster collaboration among team members and stakeholders. Embrace a culture of continuous learning, staying updated on industry trends, and incorporating valuable insights into your website strategy.
After you finish building your website from scratch, you need to launch it and make it visible to the world. You need to choose a domain name and a web host that suit your website's purpose and audience. You also need to optimize your website for search engines, by using keywords, meta tags, and sitemaps, to increase your website's ranking and visibility. You can also promote your website through social media, email marketing, or word of mouth, to attract and engage your users and grow your audience.
Plan a strategic launch and promote your website effectively. Utilize social media, email marketing, and other channels to generate awareness. Ensure your site is optimized for search engines (SEO) to enhance visibility.
You can host websites for free on popular websites like Netlify, Vercel and even GitHub! Both Netlify and Vercel offer free hosting plans for static websites, making them popular choices for developers looking to deploy and showcase their projects without incurring hosting costs. Additionally, GitHub provides a way to host static websites for free using GitHub Pages.
While you're in the building phase , get word out on social media channels to promote the website that will be coming soon. Create anticipation and intrigue about the website to encourage people to learn more about it.
A past project of mine served as a valuable lesson to me, on how pertinent preliminary research and planning is. At some point while I was working independently, I had started and completed this enterprise web application that unfortunately did not meet up with market expectations, due to a lack in adequate research and analysis. It proved to be a waste of resources, time and effort, but served as a valuable lesson to me of how extremely important it is to perform in-depth research on the viability of your project, your potential user/customer base, available competition, and the market problems your project might face and how to deal with them. On this, it's good to work with a team of experts rather than operate on your lonesome.