Opinion: The Essential Steps for SMEs when Designing a Website

All too often we see a website that hasn’t been thought out properly and the basic objectives haven’t been understood by not just the designers, but the site commissioners themselves. ‘How to design a website?’ is a million dollar question that warrants a handbook of answers, Here, I will provide you with a high-level view based on the user experience perspective. Ultimately, you are designing your site for your end users, so, they need to lie at the heart of your requirements.

The basic principals

The basic principals that needs to be considered when designing a website are just as essential to SMEs as to larger organisations. So, the advice here can be followed by any person or group embarking on the challenge of designing a new website.

Before you start, the first thing to do is define your goals. What exactly do you want to get out of your site? Think about who might visit it and what they will be looking for; is it for more information about your company? Do you provide a product or a unique service? Establish who your target audience is and what they might look for from your site, then give it to them in an easy to understand, clear and concise format. Addressing these questions is the starting point for creating a foundation upon which to design and build your site.

Try to involve as many people as possible during the review process early in the project. Getting feedback from a variety of  potential users up front often save a considerable amount of time and money - the price of making changes when you’re building the site is much higher than the cost of making a few tweaks during the initial design stage. So, try to engage with your work colleagues and if possible, work with a small number of potential real users to gain feedback.

SEO

Designing a site with your end users in mind, also has the added benefit of ensuring that search engines can ‘spider’ and index it in search results more efficiently. If it’s easy for a user to see clearly defined headings, well laid out copy and they are able to easily navigate throughout the site to find what they’re looking for, then it’s very likely search engines will find it just as easy.  Can you afford to turn your nose up at free organic search optimisation?

“Creativity”

It has never been proved that people buy from websites because they think they look great; however it has been proved that visitors are turned off by poor usability, lack of accessibility, or by just not being able to decode what the purpose of the site is.

Being “creative” can contribute to having a site that’s effective, possibly original and maybe even inspiring. However, too often websites are designed with technology in mind and not the end user. For example, if you feel compelled to use Flash, ensure you choose a developer who has experience in web accessibility. Take a look at the JK Rowling website at http://www.jkrowling.com – this is one of the most creative, yet accessible sites that I have seen in a long while.

“Accessibilty”

Having an accessible website means users who suffer from a disability such as blindness, mobility impairment and cognitively impairment are also able to access your site using assistive technologies. According to Scope, the disabled community in the UK has an annual spending power of £50billion. To learn more about ‘how’ to design and build and accessible website visit the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) accessibility website (www.w3.org). Again, a website that’s accessible to users who require assistive technology is guaranteed to be more accessible to search engines trying to spider and index it in search results.

Access on the move

Most people assume that users access the web using their desktop computer at home or at work. While this may be true for most people today, you should think about where your visitors are going to come from tomorrow. Mobile devices such as PDAs and mobile phones are being more widely adopted for browsing the web. This trend will continue as the devices and browsers improve over time and the cost of surfing comes down. Visit www.w3.org/mobile to read the best practices design techniques that will help you design a site to work on a desktop computer and mobile device. 

Paul Walsh
Chair, BIMA