Tag: building a website

Web design used to be all about creating completely unique device experiences, but this simply isn’t sustainable. The more intelligent path forward is to create adaptive experiences, but it is fraught with difficulties. 

Here are some dos and don’ts to help you stay on track:

Responsive Website Dos

• Do design with the user in mind and strive to create a design that optimizes the user experience.
• Do ask yourself the following questions: What kind of device are my audiences using? What are they attempting to accomplish?
• Do use best performance-based practices to keep page size to a minimum.
• Do use a fluid grid. Designing with a fluid grid was the original proposal for how responsive web design should work, and it received support from Adobe. When page elements are sized in relative units, the number of grid columns changes based on the width limits.
• Do check out what’s above the fold on different devices because one size doesn’t fit all.
• Do create a unique design for each device — a phone is not a tablet, neither is it a laptop, nor is it a desktop or a television. Each device has unique characteristics that you must be aware of and design for.

Responsive Website Don’ts

• Don’t penalize users based on the device they’re using to browse.
• Don’t hide content from mobile users; instead, change the content so that it is accessible to all.
• Don’t overcrowd the design with unnecessary items. Always consider whether an item is required by the user and whether it adds anything.
• Don’t bloat pages with heavy elements. Most mobile users will abandon a site after 5 seconds of waiting for it to load. This is not a good SEO strategy.
• Don’t make text links so small that they can’t be clicked on when using a mobile device to browse.

Mastering responsive web design requires a lot of skill. It isn’t as simple as resizing the content to fit a smaller window. It all comes down to providing an excellent user experience to an increasing number of web-enabled devices.

The best way to test a website’s usability is to check how it works on different devices. If it remains user-friendly across all platforms, you’re probably good to go. 

Of course, there are multiple other things to consider when it comes to building an excellent website. Check out Page Kit’s website building cheat sheet to find out about the best practices that will guarantee your website’s success.

Busy business owners who are ready to own a website may face a dilemma: buy it or build it? While building grants you more customization, it may require a significant investment in terms of time. Alternatively, buying a website lets you simply plug in the necessary details and information. 

In general, building a website involves purchasing a domain and hosting services, designing the website, and managing it over the long term to ensure security and stability. On the other hand, buying a website is simpler process — but you need to be smart about it.

Below, we’ve contrasted the buying and building process to help you make a better decision. 

Building a Website: Things to Consider

When you are building a website, there are certain factors you need to consider, such as: 

• Your Purpose – This is your goal — what do you want to achieve? Do you want to get as many visitors as possible, or get a lot of sales?
• Your Domain – Your domain name is the URL you’ll be using. This is crucial as you want your clients to remember you. Some popular platforms for domain names are GoDaddy, Domain.com, and Squarespace.
• Your Content Management System (CMS) – Choosing your builder is also essential as it makes building your content much easier. Some popular CMS options include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
• Your SEO – To make sure that your site appears well on Google, you need to invest in search engine optimization (SEO).

Buying a Website: Things to Consider

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of building a website, you can purchase one instead. Here are a few things to consider:

• Your Options – When buying a website, you must look for a site related to your business. Do complete research regarding where to buy and which one is the best option before making any deals.
• Your Budget – A good and well-established website will cost a lot — after all, you’re skipping a lot of steps to get to that point. 
• Your Site’s Efficiency – Aside from looking out for certain design characteristics, it’s important to make sure that you test the website thoroughly. Keep in mind that it’s far easier to build a new website than to fix a messy one. 
• Your Access to Support – Before buying the website, ask the seller for a few months’ support. You might get stuck somewhere in your initial days and need help.

If you are new to the website building process, check out Page Kits’ blog to understand the milestones in building and launching a website.

User experience (UX) is an essential component when it comes to building any website. Designing your website’s UX goes beyond making sure your website attracts visitors — a website that prioritizes UX will be able to keep visitors on their page, thereby increasing the chances of landing a sale.  

If you want to build a site that prioritizes UX, ask yourself about the goal of the site, your target audience, and the kinds of features you want to include. 

What Is the Goal of Your Website?

If your aim is to increase sales, you’ll want to focus on creating a website that is easily navigable and that prominently features calls to action. On the other hand, those who want their website to be seen as an authoritative source will want to focus on displaying their content and creating seamless links to their social media.

It is normal for your goals to change as your site evolves. You may also want to address several goals at once, so your website design will need to adjust accordingly. 

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Narrowing down your target audience can help you establish the goals you want to set for your website. Take mobile optimization as an example: while optimizing for mobile is a must for any business, it is especially important for those who want to cater to a younger audience. Knowing who your target audience is will also help you figure out what kinds of information you want to display on your homepage.

What Features Do You Want to Include?

It can be tempting to put flashy graphics and embed lots of videos onto your homepage, but doing so might make your website look cluttered and take longer to load. Keeping UX in mind can help you decide things like whether to have a hamburger menu on your page and what kind of fonts you want to build your website around.  

Once you’re ready to start designing your website, it’s time to learn about the top things to know when building a website with the Page Kits blog.

If a business wants to succeed in today’s economy, it must have a website. A business website is a non-negotiable, but business owners with no coding experience need not worry. WordPress and Wix have risen in popularity as beginner-friendly website builders that can get your online store up and running in a matter of days.

The choice between these two platforms is a tough one. WordPress is far more superior to Wix when we talk about website building. WordPress provides all these tools at no cost, which means it’s accessible by anyone who wants help customizing their online presence. In contrast, Wix is an intuitive and easy-to-use website builder that provides a variety of tools for creating beautiful designs.

Wix vs. WordPress: Which Is Better?

Both of these platforms have their pros and cons. Let’s dive deeper into these platforms:

WordPress

WordPress is a free, open-source website builder. It powers over 40% of the websites on the internet today and is an excellent platform for a variety of websites. 

From blogging and eCommerce to business or portfolio websites, WordPress is a versatile content management system (CMS). Designed with flexibility and functionality in mind, WordPress is excellent for both large and small websites.

Pricing

Here are WordPress’ packages for its users:

• Personal (for personal use) – $4
• Premium (for freelancers) – $8
• Business (for small businesses) – $25
• eCommerce (for online stores) – $45

Ease of Use

The WordPress block editor is a powerful tool that allows you to edit your pages in real-time. WordPress also gives you access to thousands of themes, all fully customizable with the live theme customizer.

Customization

WordPress offers a lot of official and third-party themes, more than any other CMS system. If you’re looking for plugins, there are an impressive 46,000 plugin options available for WordPress members. 

Security

The one drawback of WordPress is its security protocol. Unless you’re working with a web developer or agency, you will have to be in charge of making sure you’re running the latest version of WordPress — you’ll also have to be on the lookout for plugins and themes that might have malicious codes. 

Wix

Wix provides cloud-based website building services for users who don’t want to hire web developers. Its easy design options help even novice users create a site that looks professional and can be managed without any technical skills or knowledge of coding.

Pricing

Here are Wix’s packages for its users:

• VIP (for first priority support) – $24
• Unlimited (for entrepreneurs and freelancers) – $12
• Combo (suitable for personal use) – $8
• Connect Domain (for those looking for a basic plan) – $4

Ease of Use

Getting started on Wix is a fun, simple process. Once you’ve signed up, it will ask you what kind of website template style and category you want from its wide range of templates for your desired site.

Customization

Wix’s theme offerings are a huge reason why this website builder is lobed by many. Wix offers its users a variety of templates, all of which are responsive. In addition, users can adjust the editor to include their own personal touch and style into any site they create.

Security

Lastly, Wix is a security company that handles everything for you. Your Wix site will automatically be given an SSL certificate, and Wix’s staff members are trained to monitor for hacks on all their servers. 

Still not sure how to go about building your business website? Check out Page Kit’s article covering the best website-building software you can try.

Creating an eye-catching website requires a lot of thought. From functionality and appearance to coding integrity and navigation, all these aspects need careful consideration when designing your site so that it is user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.

Knowing what to research right off the bat can save you a lot of time during the actual website building process. First, you need to look at what UI is user-friendly: this includes fonts, color schemes, and the like. Then, you must have a good domain name, a hosting package, and a functional CMS to start running your website.

Information to Collect When Building A Website

The following things are essential to research when building a website: 

Design Practices 

A website’s design is one of the most important aspects to consider when developing one. Moreover, it should be clean and engaging but not stale-looking or too common — after all, everyone has their own unique style! 

Color is yet another important aspect to take care of. This is because it conveys different meanings and moods, so you must pick a color palette that best represents who you are as an organization. 

Possible Domain Names

A good domain name should help you rank higher on Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), as well as encourage more visitors to explore the rest of your web properties. As a kind of three-way test, make sure that your domain name is:

• Easy to spell
• Short
• True to your brand name

Potential CMS (Content Management System)

A content management system is a software program or application that helps you manage digitally designed content. As a general rule, the right CMS will offer extensive customer support, SEO capabilities, and robust security features. Finding the right system for your needs will save money along the way. Some of the best CMS you can try are WordPress, Wix, Drupal, and Joomla.

SEO Keywords

Search engine optimization is essential in order to increase your website’s SERP ranking and create sustainable growth for your site. Before starting out with your SEO campaign, it is important that you decide what keywords you want your website to rank for. Choosing keywords that target your niche and your areas of service are necessary to building a successful SEO strategy.

Once you have all this information ready to go, it’s time to read up on how to start building a website. For more tips and tricks on crafting the perfect website, check out the Page Kits blog.

Elegant Themes is a popular WordPress theme shop with great customer reviews from some of the biggest names in blogging. Divi and Extra are the only two premium WordPress themes offered by Elegant Themes, but both provide a wealth of customization features that can make your website stand out. 

Both Divi and Extra are downloadable files that you can upload to your WordPress after purchase. Once you have these themes installed into your WordPress account, you can start building a website that fits your needs and stays true to your branding.

Keep reading below to learn more about each of these themes. 

Working With Divi and Extra 

As stated in the beginning, you will need to purchase Divi and Extra from the Elegant Themes website: you can either pay $89 per year or a one-off lifetime payment for $249. 

Once you’re done with the download, the next step is activating the themes. After you log into your WordPress dashboard, navigate towards the “Appearance” tab, click on “Themes,” and then look for the button that says “Add New.” You should be taken to a screen with an “Upload Theme” button, which is what you need to click to install your new theme to your WordPress account.  

Divi

The Divi theme page builder is divided into three main organizational elements: sections, rows, and modules. The largest organizer within the Divi theme page builder is called “sections,” which can contain multiple nested “rows.” Within a section or row, you will have various types of modules such as images, text, and the like. 

Divi’s main selling point is its ability to be customized down to the most granular design level. This makes it especially great for businesses with numerous brands under their belt or for web designers who want to cater to a range of clients.

Extra

The Extra WordPress theme takes a unique approach to the Divi Builder with an all-new set of modules designed specifically for magazines and online publications.  Configuring your layout is simple and straightforward. Layout usage and extra settings options are in the left column, and you can use them to configure when your layout is used on a website, as well as control if and how the sidebar appears.

Extra’s support for projects and products makes it ideal if you’re looking to showcase your latest work as a designer or sell products with built-in WooCommerce integration.  You can also rate posts through a built-in rating feature.

Ever wondered why some website-building apps fail to earn a good reputation in the market? Learn more about why companies dump website-building apps on the Page Kits blog.

Creativity is an essential part of a web designer’s process, but it can be dangerous if you don’t understand your client and their business. The scope, budget, goals, target audience, competitors, and strategy are all essential aspects one should know when building a website for someone else.

Questions To Ask Before Building A Website

What Is The Scope?

To finalize the cost and time frame of your website project, having a clear scope is necessary. The scope is an essential component as it defines the purpose of the website and what the audience should expect from you. To draft a scope, break it into two parts: functionality and content. Functionality is the features of the website you’re making for your client, whereas content includes the general stuff such as images and text on the website.

What Is Your Budget?

Before deciding how much money to spend, think about where it will come from and what kind of ROI your client expects. If there’s a set budget for the project as a whole, try breaking down each component that goes into creating an online presence (like web design or hosting) and adjust with the client from there. 

What Are The Goals For The Project?

Whenever you’re building a website, you need to be sure of what the goal is. Ask questions such as, “Do you primarily need more people visiting this site for educational purposes or for sales?” You’ll be able to build an excellent website and help fulfill those objectives when you have very targeted information. 

Do You Know Your Audience?

The next question should be about who your client’s target audience is. You need to understand who they are, their age group, and what they like and dislike to make sure you provide them exactly what they need. This is because they are most likely the ones to be interested in your clients’ products, services, or content on the website. Lastly, you need to ask this question because it will help you determine what methods or strategies to use to avoid bounce rates.

Are You Aware Of Your Competitors?

Once you’ve discovered your client’s main competitors, gather unique information that will guide the audience more about your client’s business. Look at what works well on competitor’s sites and see if there are things falling flat that you can do better on your site.

How Will You Stand Out?

To stand out in a sea of 1.88 billion websites, you must ensure that the client can provide unique sources of information and tell an exciting story to make the website special. 

Now that you’ve had all of your questions answered, let’s move on to the next stage of development. Check out Page Kits’ guide to learn the steps to building a website.