We are often asked what a web designer does.
There is a wealth of information, but also misinformation. This makes it almost impossible to keep track of everything and understand what is important in web design.
As a web design agency, we first ask potential customers about their experience and, above all, what they want to achieve with their website.
WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH OUR WEBSITE?
The most common answer is: I need a showcase for my company, a web presence.
THE GOAL: AN INTERESTING ONLINE PRESENCE FOR VISITORS
But is a website really just a showcase? The clear answer is no! However, we want to serve the same purpose with a website.
A showcase was or still is hung in front of companies and shops to tell potential customers what a company offers, to get walk-in customers and to build a brand.
We want to achieve something similar with your online presence.
WEB DESIGN TO WIN CUSTOMERS
Web designers want a website to be about acquiring new customers, maintaining existing customers and building a brand.
As an agency, we always place particular emphasis on the return on investment (ROI) so that your investment in web design pays off or is profitable.
Which brings us to one of the first questions that most people ask us about the topic.
What does a web designer or a web design agency do?
As a specialist, a web design agency supports you on the way to success on the web.
The experience flows into the design and web design. Employees of an agency usually have a large portion of creativity and the corresponding knowledge.
It’s not just about content and text, but with the web design we create, we create beautiful pages for you for the Internet.
This not only has the effect that visitors feel addressed, but also that they are easy to use.
Web design, what is it anyway?
Technically speaking, web design is actually just designing a website without the technical implementation.
In recent years, however, the term web design has been used more generally to refer to the creation of a website.
TABLE OF CONTENTS, MAIN MENU AND MENU – DEFINING THE STRUCTURE
But before the design can begin, a structure must be thought of at the beginning of the web design, which the later design will then be based on.
That is why our web design agency always starts with a potential analysis to see how we can best position the company or brand so that the design can be adapted accordingly.
We give our customers numerous tips on this, as we have gotten to know all kinds of companies thanks to our many years of experience.
Once the structure is in place, the project is usually passed on to either a graphic designer, media designer or, in some cases, directly to a web designer, who coordinates with the customer and takes over the design of the web design.
USER-FRIENDLY DESIGN
What good is all the knowledge of the various web design technologies if customers can’t use your website?
An expert in the field must also know about user experience (UX) and implement it.
So far we have shown you what web design is. But what advantages does excellent web design offer your customers and yourself?
You may be wondering, isn’t good web design subjective and dependent on the taste of the viewer?
No, good web design is not subjective, but you can quickly see the differences between good and bad web design.
Well-designed websites offer visitors the experience they are looking for.
MARKETING – ADVERTISE WITHOUT BEING ANNOYING
It is now a given for companies that they have their own website, but very few use websites for marketing.
But websites in particular can act as a customer generator and thus increase sales.
With website marketing, you attract the interest of customers.
As a company, you can present your portfolio on the websites. You can implement campaigns that offer your customers and you real added value.
ONLINE SHOPS
You can reach customers with well-designed online shops. Regardless of whether you want to sell one item or thousands of items, you should pay attention to a good design.
Well-designed web design for online shops is characterized by the following aspects in particular:
The easier it is to find your product and the more transparent the product information and payment options are, the more convincing your shop will be. In addition to the usability of the website, the design also affects performance.
In order to achieve more conversions, a number of technical aspects must be taken into account, which will be discussed later in this article.
The presentation of the products should be given special attention in the design.
How is the user visually addressed? Which functions and trends should be taken into account to ensure usability? What is more annoying? Who do you want to appeal to with the design? Is a smooth process guaranteed?
How is the search for products designed? Are there automatic suggestions and spelling correction? Are results always delivered? Is the focus drawn to the essentials? Can users find their way around quickly?
Does the design of your online shop create trust and security? How is trust built (e.g. seal of approval, transparent sales process, usability)?
conversion rate
With a good web design you can increase the conversion rate. This is calculated as follows:
Conversion * 100/visitor
For example, if one hundred users visit the website and three of them carry out the desired action, the conversion rate is 3 percent.
However, this also means that 97 users did not use the offer and were not addressed by the websites. Bad web design therefore leads to low conversion rates.
A bad web design agency would recommend that you drive more traffic to your website and thus compensate for bad conversion rates. But that is a mistake, because 3% remains 3%, no matter how high the number of visitors.
You should therefore rather convince the visitor with a good design of your website so that they get a good feeling.
CREATIVITY
There are no limits to creativity when designing websites. The various options available in web design allow you to play and experiment when editing the page. This creates impressive websites that reflect the personality of your brand.
Without a strong presence on the web, your own brand will be thwarted. With an inspiring web design, you not only build a bond with your customers, but also leave a lasting impression on visitors to your website.
The path to an innovative web design is no problem for an experienced designer. For them, aspects such as aesthetics, user-friendliness and creativity play a major role.
STRATEGY
What effect do you want to achieve with your website? Therefore, you should consider in advance how the web design will appeal to your target group.
What does the web design say about you? What information do you want to convey to your customers or visitors to your website? You have to ask yourself what the web design says about you and your company? And what you really want to achieve with the web design.
An inspiring web design offers you numerous advantages.
The endless possibilities of creative web design can drive an inexperienced developer to despair. But good designers know how to implement their customers’ wishes.
But even experienced web developers need a good strategy to successfully complete the web design.
CLEAR REQUIREMENTS FOR WEB DESIGN
As with all projects, the requirements for the web design must be clearly and unambiguously formulated at the beginning.
Your customers certainly want an attractive design and everything to make you easier to find on the web.
Visitors should get an overview of your portfolio.
The texts should appeal to the visitor and convince them.
The type of design of your website should be unique.
Current trends should be taken into account.
The customers’ wishes and requirements could be listed indefinitely. Therefore, our tip for you: Clarify all requirements and wishes right at the beginning, before you start with the web design.
GET TO KNOW THE COMPANY
Get an overview of the company. This also means that you look at what items it offers and why people should buy from it. The company’s goals should therefore be taken into account when implementing the website.
You therefore carry out a small company analysis at the beginning. This answers questions such as:
What does the company do? What industry does the company belong to and who are its competitors? What sets it apart from other companies? What makes it special? What goals should be achieved in the next few years?
How many employees does the company have? Is there a company tradition that should be taken into account? How long has the company been in existence?
What general conditions should be taken into account?
What items does the company produce? Are there services and products that are best sellers and should be particularly promoted? What defines the brand?
Who are the company’s customers? Are there particularly loyal customers who need special consideration? How has the company gone about acquiring new customers so far?
Of course, questions about corporate design and communication also play a major role in web design.
These questions are usually explored in a personal conversation. This cannot be determined over the phone, with an email or the information from an advertising brochure. This way, you will learn a lot about the company for which the web design is to be created.
A web design expert can derive a lot for the design of the website from the answers. The strategy differs for companies that have been active on the market for a long time and for companies that offer new products and thus want to win new customers.
A web design expert prepares thoroughly for this conversation and also uses a list of questions that has been prepared in advance.
DO YOU KNOW THE VISITOR?
Design decisions also have an impact on conversions. Therefore, the website must be attractive to potential users. Therefore, you should find out as much about them as possible.
It is about finding out what the website user is looking for, what their needs are and what expectations they have of the website. Record the problems that a visitor wants to have solved.
In addition to the company analysis, an analysis of your users must also be carried out, whereby information should be gathered on the following aspects if possible:
sociodemographic characteristics (e.g. gender, age, place of residence, level of education, income)
psychographic characteristics (e.g. attitudes, habits, aesthetic sense)
consumer behavior (e.g. brand awareness, price sensitivity, purchase frequency)
technical reference (e.g. internet-savvy, high need for security, surfing behavior)
situational context (e.g. environment, depth of information)
This is how you can find the target group that the web design is intended to address. By gathering this information, you can already see whether they are normal customers or business customers.
DO YOU KNOW THE COMPETITION?
Before you design the website, you should think about the competition.
The products and services of the various providers often hardly differ from one another and have therefore become interchangeable. Therefore, it is important to find out what sets the company apart from the competition in order to focus on this in the web design.
Therefore, questions about the competitors are also asked during discussions with customers. A web design expert also searches through the competitors’ websites and gathers the following information:
Who are the competitors? What do they offer? What are the competitors’ strengths? Where is the location?
What does the weather competitor’s website look like? What elements and images does it use? How is the design implemented and what effect does it achieve?
What technologies are used and how is the technical implementation carried out?
What do the texts look like? What style of language is used? Which content elements play a role?
The competitor’s website can also serve as a source of inspiration. For example, you can look at how the menu is structured and whether it can be implemented in a similar way in your own design.
But you should also pay attention to what you don’t like about the website and what was poorly designed. You can do better with your design.
WHY IS WEB DESIGN IMPORTANT?
Not all websites are created equal. Confusing, outdated or non-functioning websites are more likely to harm your company. With good web design, you can prevent this.
With web design, you create a holistic look. In addition to planning, the process also includes the construction of the individual elements of the website, the structure and layout, right down to the texts and images.
Web design therefore includes several components that, when combined, can create a unique experience for your visitors.
A website designer must consider aspects such as graphic design, search engine optimization, responsive design or user experience. These different elements determine the appearance of your website.
SERIOUSNESS
You can use your website to convince the viewer of your seriousness, and this can only be done with a suitable web design. You usually only have one chance to make a good first impression.
CREDIBILITY
In addition to seriousness, credibility also plays a major role. This is conveyed with a good web design. For example, you should provide the appropriate space for customer opinions on your website.
TRUST
Trust is an important aspect, because without it nothing works. Can you build trust on the Internet, you might ask yourself?
Yes, you can. There are no general rules for this. It helps, for example, if you are perceived as an expert on the problem.
USABILITY
Usability is an important feature of good web design. This is because it offers clear structures. The main navigation level and menu are immediately recognized and understood.
When using the website, the user does not have to think about how to carry out the desired actions. Unnecessary things are left out.
Basics and Trends in Web Design
Web design is constantly changing. New trends emerge every year. You don’t have to follow all of them, but a modern website signals that you care and that your website is important to you.
EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT WORDPRESS
There have been numerous developments in recent years, as technologies and web design are constantly changing. Everyone is currently talking about WordPress, but there is no one right system.
WordPress offers a range of functions and options that make your website special, but many web designers still write the code for the websites themselves, for example. One thing is clear, however, that WordPress has already proven itself in many web projects in recent years.
IS WIX ENOUGH?
Many website designers rely on Wix, a popular homepage builder that can be used to build a website quickly and easily. But Wix has many limitations and you will quickly reach your limits.
OTHER TRENDS IN WEB DESIGN
One of the current trends is everything that has to do with 3D. 3D design elements and 3D effects play a major role on the web.
CONTENT, LANGUAGE AND CONTENT
Varied and interesting content characterizes good websites. The content should also be tailored to the target group.
Regardless of whether it is text, images or video – your content must match the theme of your website and should be up-to-date. For example, the images on a wedding photographer’s website differ from the images on an engineering firm’s website.
Simple and understandable language is also an absolute prerequisite for good web design. With language and correct spelling and punctuation, you underline your seriousness and credibility.
GRAPHICS, VIDEOS & CO
Graphics, images and videos are important design elements of a website. So look for eye-catching images that match your company and your brand. If possible, you should avoid using publicly available stock photos.
However, make sure that you not only choose a uniform design, but also ensure accessibility.
HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE GOOD WEB DESIGN?
As the previous explanations show, there are different ways to achieve good web design. Now we will address a few aspects of technology in order to make a good impression on users on the web.
TIPS FOR LAYOUT
The entire layout plays a major role in a well-designed website. Web design creates a uniform look.
Therefore, a good website designer plans the elements of a website from the strategy to the layout. In addition to the images, the colors, graphics and fonts also play a major role.
A combination of the various web design elements requires experience and sensitivity. Only the perfect interaction ensures a special experience for your visitors who come across your website on the Internet.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
You enter a search term in the browser and your website doesn’t appear on the web? You can change that with good web design.
Bad web design is not only recognized by the design of the website, but also by the source code used.
Poorly made source code can lead to problems with search engines and thus your website cannot be found immediately after entering it into the browser because the search engine has relegated your website to one of the lower positions.
Good web design therefore ensures good source code and therefore makes it easier for the search engine to understand the websites.
TIPS FOR ACCESSIBILITY
When designing websites, take the accessibility guidelines into account.
These are criteria such as alternative texts for images or the consistent implementation of headings.
In addition, a good contrast ratio and the use of simple and clear language do not ensure accessibility, but are better understood by all users on the web.
If you want to deal with this in more detail, there is the Barrier-Free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0).
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
The strength of a good web design agency is the responsive design, which is taken into account when designing and implementing your site.
Responsive web design means good visibility on all common browsers and with the usual screen resolutions.
LOADING WEBSITES
Now that we have already talked about the design of your website, we also need to talk about loading times. How long does your website take to load on the desktop or mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets?
Users on the web don’t like to wait. If it takes too long for the page to load and be displayed in the browser, the more visitors click away from the page. One indicator for this is the abandonment rate. The lower the abandonment rate, the better your website loads.
An experienced web design agency speeds up the loading speed on the desktop and mobile devices. Good web design also ensures speed.
With good web design, your page is not overloaded. This means, on the one hand, that you do not confuse your users on the web with numerous elements and, on the other hand, that the loading speed is not unnecessarily delayed. Less is sometimes more.
TRAINING TO BECOME A WEB DESIGNER
We often receive inquiries by email or telephone about how to become a web designer. There are various ways to do this. In general, there is no real training to become a web designer, but this is usually done through further training.
There are numerous technical schools that offer further training to become a web designer. Such schools usually cost money and the duration and content of the further training at the various institutions sometimes differ considerably from one another.
This is not training in the classic sense, but often a completed training course or practical experience is a prerequisite.
Are you already an experienced blogger and have been working with the web and the corresponding technologies for a long time? Then it is possible to work in this field even without the corresponding further training.
In addition, there is the option of completing training to become a digital and print media designer, where the relevant knowledge is usually imparted in modules such as media design and graphic design.
In general, it should be noted that the profession of web designer is not legally protected. Web designers mainly work in software or multimedia companies.
WHAT REQUIREMENTS SHOULD A WEB DESIGNER HAVE?
Above all, you should enjoy designing and have a creative streak. You must be open to suggestions, but also be able to proactively contribute ideas. You must be communicative in order to find out what the customer wants in discussions with them.
Since you work for customers as a web designer, you must also be able to act in a service-oriented manner. This means that you can stick to time and budget specifications, since you usually work on a project basis. You must be able to work independently.
HOW MUCH DOES A WEBSITE COST?
One of the most frequently asked questions should be answered at the end. Our customers often ask right at the start how much websites cost.
There are many variations to answer this exact question for the free market. We always compare this with the car market to illustrate this better. There are certainly websites that are offered cheaply, like used vehicles. Here, designers offer their services for €500 or less.
However, you should ask yourself what you intend to do with this website. Of course, it is not just about owning a car, but you are interested in how far you can go with it and what features and comfort the car offers. This can also be transferred to the field of web design, especially if your company and your brand rely on it.
As in the car market, there are different models with different technologies that provide different performance. There are simple solutions with CMS systems (content management systems) that allow laypeople to easily add and change content. Other agencies offer in-house developments where the code is written by the developer themselves (usually with the help of frameworks), through to more complicated applications and online shops.
The price is therefore calculated depending on the scope and effort involved. We can therefore only give a guideline here: In 2022, a website that meets all legal and industry-specific requirements and has no unusual requirements with around 10-20 subpages should be in the range of 3,500 – 6,500 euros.
But be careful! Just because you commission a high-priced website does not mean that it will perform well.
WEB DESIGN FROM MUNICH – A RELIABLE PARTNER FOR OUR CUSTOMERS