Cre8veDesign

There are many tutorials and “how-to’s” that deal with websites.  Many of them are related to designing the website in Photoshop, Illustrator and even Fireworks.  These are great tutorials and some even include taking the Photoshop file, slicing and converting to html.  This can then be placed in an html editor, most commonly, Dreamweaver.  I am sure many know that you need a domain and hosting for a website; but some may need to know what is required to go from start to finish. In this essay, I will guide you in developing that idea in your head, into something you will be proud to show to the world.Let’s begin.
You need to start with brainstorming.  Many people, including myself, use programs, notebooks, or the mind mapping method.  This is a form of the pre-writing concept of clustering.  You will need to determine what it is that your users will want and need. A great starting point is the book, “The Elements of User Design”.  This book is simple and easy to understand, yet very professional and informative.  See my book review here. You will be working through five planes or “elements” to develop personas; which are simply fake personalities that represent different types of people who will come across your blog. Once you have arrived at your personas, you will then know how to proceed and develop your site to fit the needs of the users. Now that we have our personas and completed our five elements, we are confident in how we need to design our site.  This design will be created and centered on our user profiles and therefore we can create a site that is user friendly. This next phase is where you determine your education level in regards to the graphic design.  If you are a beginner there are some options for you, and they range in price. The first option, is to hire a web designer who is familiar with user-centered design. You can go over your personas and what you want said, and how to display this content.  The next method involves some amount of coding or Dreamweaver (DW) experience.  You can purchase templates, and then do some minor manipulation, such as replacing the masthead and the content.  This presents a more professional appearance than some can create.  The drawback is that you are not the only one with this design and most web designers can tell when you purchased a mass produced template or you have a custom design site.  Moving into the intermediate stage, we can carry over the purchased template and add lots of customization to really change it.  You can also create good designs yourself in Photoshop and then transfer to DW.  After this the sky is the limit to this group of people.

Web sites need to be hosted and have a domain. There are many companies that offer hosting and domain names. GoDaddy is a popular choice, but not the only one.  There are companies that are green and all their power is wind and solar.  This is great if you are environmentally conscious. Make sure you do your research and read reviews to make sure the company has good customer service and offers great content and prices.

Now you begin your design process, whether it is hiring a designer, purchasing a template, or getting your hands dirty and doing the design yourself.  Remember, you have to keep your personas in mind when designing, in order to create the optimal design for the user.  The other thing to remember is that there are design rules.  Many follow Gestalt theory, but the design rules that are offered, overlap and are easily learned. Contrast, repetition , alignment, proximity, and continuation just to name a few, these coupled with your personas, will create a great looking design that is user-centered.  Also, many individuals are creating blogs. Businesses are even providing blogs for their community. This offering of content and advice, shows that they are real people who care about their audience.  Definitely think about a blog and other social media formats, as they have many uses.

Once your site is created, you need to work on Search Engine Optimization.  SEO allows your page to be ranked well in search engines like Google, which in turn, drives business or customers to you.  The main method is to submit your site to search engines and enter Meta tags.  A little bit of research will reveal the codes and how to place Meta tags in your site.  However, most designers will do this, and other forms of SEO, for you.

Finally, you will need to test your site.  I recommend continuing this practice for the remainder of your site’s uptime.  Monthly maintenance and editing is part of the industry, and will help you troubleshoot any need that arises.

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