The success of any business, large or small, largely depends on the strength of its digital marketing plan and the effectiveness of its web design. Your website either encourages curious viewers to stay or encourage them to leave as soon as possible. This is where creative web design comes in.
Why Should You Care About Creative Web Design?
A unique and creative web design will give your website the competitive advantage it needs to survive and thrive in today’s crowded digital world. The best part? You don’t necessarily have to be a designer to produce creative and unique web pages — anyone with basic knowledge of HTML and CSS can achieve outstanding results with a little bit of imagination.
Deciding what type of creative web design to pursue can be difficult. Do you go for a stylish, minimalist look designed to appeal to tech-savvy users who want to be able to access your content easily on their smartphones or do you opt for a more traditional approach to attract a broader audience? The choice is completely up to you, but as a business owner, you should carefully consider what makes the most sense for your particular situation.
The Process Of Creative Web Design
Now, you might be wondering how exactly you go about creating a unique and creative website. Below, we’ll outline the steps you should take to produce a functional, eye-catching site that will draw in visitors and encourage them to stay for a while.
STEP 1: Define Your Audience
The first and most critical step in the process is to identify who you’re targeting. This is pretty straightforward; you know you’ll need to create a website to promote your clothing brand, so you should already have an idea of who your audience is. If you’re completely oblivious to this concept, then perhaps you should consider creating a blog before venturing into the world of bespoke websites.
STEP 2: Gather References
A blog post won’t suffice when it comes to proving your worth as a creative web designer. You’ll need to accumulate a number of references that showcase your abilities. The most effective way to do this is by participating in freelance projects. Not only will this gain you credibility, but you’ll also gain access to highly prized, industry-specific publications.
STEP 3: Brainstorm Ideas
Once you’ve established yourself as a creative web design expert, it’s time to flood your brain with as many ideas as possible. It doesn’t matter how crazy or impractical they may be; as long as there’s a glimmer of hope that you can bring any of these ideas to life, then it’s worth pursuing. As a designer, you’ll no doubt have a healthy sense of optimism when it comes to new ideas and new ventures. This is excellent news if you’re aiming for originality and unique designs.
STEP 4: Begin Building
If you followed the above steps correctly, then you should have multiple potential projects ready to go. Now, it’s time to begin building. The key to creating unique and extraordinary websites is by using quality components that will make a massive difference. When choosing your web host, it’s essential to look for one that offers a large variety of tools and features.
STEP 5: Test The Site In All Ways
Testing is an important part of the website building process. You don’t want to end up with a fully-functioning website that you then discover is faulty in some way. To avoid this, you should test your site in every conceivable way. This means running Google Analytics, checking out your website’s performance in both desktop and mobile browsers, and ensuring that all of your content is easily readable and accessible. You should also perform load testing to determine how much content can be comfortably served by your website.
STEP 6: Make Adjustments As Needed
As we’ve established, testing is critical. Even the slightest change can have massive ramifications. This is why you need to be mindful of any adjustments you make and have backups in case you make a mistake. Luckily, with technology being what it is, you can always revert back to a previous version easily enough.
As you can see, creating a unique and creative website is a long and arduous process, but the pay-offs are more than worth it. Not only will a unique and creative site help you stand out from the crowd, but it can also boost your career as a professional web designer. So, what are you waiting for? Get creative!