22nd Mar 2019
The first step for any good web designer is understanding the context to what is being created. This requires a sound grasp of what defines great digital marketing and communication, as well as the elements that make web design a different animal to any other type of design. From here, it's all about the various principles and elements of design and how these can be applied to a website. These include:
Using the principles and elements of design, a web designer can create something that works well in terms of the specific context of the website.
There are lots of different components involved in understanding web design and what makes the ideal website. This list of terms provides basic insight into the key building blocks:
The visuals of the website i.e. the layout, the colours that appear and the typography, among many other elements.
This is where the website becomes a tool - forming part of the marketing efforts that enable a business to achieve its digital strategy.
Hypertext Markup Language. Together with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript it is the key technology for web design.
This is the technology that essentially controls how the website works when users interact with it. It is used to manage certain functions and interactions.
This could include CGI programming, PHP, ASP, ColdFusion scripting. Programming languages are not required for every site and are mostly necessary for sites that have a lot of features.
The features of the site that work to achieve a positive search engine ranking and make the site more attractive to users.
The structure of content and navigation, designed to ensure that the user journey through the site is engaging and productive.
This is essentially how quickly the site appears to the user. A good web designer should be able to ensure that the site loads quickly, regardless of connection or viewing device.
Every website today needs to offer unique and genuinely useful content, not just to appeal to search engines but also to ensure that users will want to browse the site and also to return.
These elements provide a brief introduction to the basics of web design. From incorporating key design principles to understanding the importance of content, there are multiple different components to consider.
