This article will list all the problems we need to consider and all the pitfalls we may step into in the process of website construction from the two dimensions of "selecting website construction companies" and "web design principles", in order to prevent unnecessary deception.

Full of dry goods, no advertising, no nonsense~

How to choose a website construction company?

When selecting a website design company, we need to consider the following issues:

1. Is all work done internally or outsourced by the website construction company?

It is important to ask the website construction company whether to implement all services internally.

This includes design (e.g. Photoshop work), coding (e.g. html, database creation, php), writing, content creation, and marketing. A team proficient in all fields can easily combine their talents to create a successful website. All work carried out internally will lead to better communication, collaboration and overall higher quality products.

2. Are their web design and development solutions customized to your specific needs?

Although it is easy to create a template website and its styles are very rich, a website with a great sense of design can really attract people's attention at once.

3. What is its web design and development process?

It is very important to understand how website construction companies design and develop web pages, because this can provide direct insight into their experience and strategies.

A simple way to judge whether it is professional is to ask whether there is an accurate work schedule. (After all, work is not fun. You can do something whenever you want.)

Example of station building schedule

4. What is its marketing experience?

Your website is your company's facade. If properly designed and developed, it can become one of your best sales representatives, because it will generate new potential customers and establish your sales channels.

In addition, websites should not be viewed in isolation, but should be considered in a combination of content marketing, digital marketing, search engine optimization, social media, blogs, lead generation, and inbound marketing strategies. By cooperating with a website construction company with such marketing strength, your website conversion rate will be extremely excellent.

5. How does it conduct search engine optimization (SEO)?

Just as important as having a well-designed and powerful website is to be able to see it during relevant keyword searches. After all, if your potential customers can't find the website in the search process, what's the use of the website? In addition to the marketing strategies listed above, your website's code, title tag, meta description and alt tag will also affect your SEO.

Note: SEO here generally refers to Google SEO; White hat SEO usually takes 6 months or more to produce effect

6. Do they have a collection of works that can be shared?

In fact, you can view their collections on the official website of each website construction company, and judge their design level by the design quality of these works.

Sample Portfolio

7. Do they guarantee their work?

It is very important for the website construction to operate completely according to the contract proposal. More importantly, knowing that you will not be charged for any code problems within the specified time shows that the web design company has great integrity. Otherwise, you may pay for each "repair", and these costs will increase quickly.

8. Do they have case studies or proven indicators and results of previous projects?

Reviewing the work of the website company will enable you to understand whether it has a proven track record in designing and developing high-performance websites. Can they address business challenges by designing and customizing functionality/coding? Did their website achieve results for customers, not just a very "beautiful" website?

9. Are your ideas consistent?

The importance of establishing a working relationship with another company cannot be underestimated, and it is crucial to find a fit between your philosophy and theirs. Usually, this compatibility can be determined by carefully analyzing the declarations or purpose statements that website construction companies may include on their websites. This can also be further collected through dialogue with website construction companies.

10. How large is the company?

How many employees does the website construction company have? What are their areas of expertise? Can they handle the scope of work? Will you be provided with a single contact person? Who will own the Web project personally? Too big a company may make you feel lost in chaos. Too small, they may not have the necessary resources to raise your online image to a new level. Ideally, a web design company should be flexible enough to handle all your needs quickly and effectively.

11. Does the web design company encourage face-to-face meetings?

Face to face interaction with your website construction company can foster healthy relationships, build trust and promote greater synergy. If frequent face-to-face meetings are impractical due to geographical location, I encourage you to at least visit the web design company when reviewing proposals, so that you can see their working space and work with the team.

12. Are their words consistent with their deeds?

In the process of seeking cooperation with website construction companies, it is very important to carefully examine their websites, content, social media materials and overall digital image. Does the team follow the latest design practices? Are their websites fully functional or have broken links? Do they consistently release new quality content? Do they interact with followers and visitors? If they do not follow best practices related to web design, development, and digital marketing, how can you determine that they will serve your business?

13. How do they handle website hosting?

It is important to know whether the website construction company plans to host your website on an internal dedicated server or virtual hosting platform. Virtualization is improving hosting and allowing easy handling of the substantial increase in site traffic. Unlike dedicated hosting, there is no need to purchase, lease, or maintain hardware. And unlike the shared host, the resources of the virtual server are guaranteed. It is also important to know how often the site is backed up and how long these backups are kept. How fast is the processing capacity of the hosting platform? What is the guaranteed uptime?

14. How much experience do they have in content management systems?

The content management system enables your enterprise to manage the content of your website without coding. This is important because you can gain flexible control over the website and continue to develop and expand your website after its release.

15. Do they provide aftercare services or support after the release? To what extent?

The essence of the network is continuous development, whether in terms of technological progress or the demand for continuous flow of new content. It is rare that a website does not want to be updated after it is launched. Maybe your company has added products or services; Perhaps a new network technology can enhance your customers' online experience. Whether you find spelling mistakes in the content, accidentally delete a module from the content management system and find that you need backup and recovery, or want to add more functions to the site, you need a clear plan. Some developers provide post service options in the form of a fixed monthly fee, while others provide single point pricing for their existing customers. Regardless of the method used, it is important to understand your choices.

16. How accessible is the web design company?

How to deal with service problems, including errors and vulnerabilities? Do you have to submit the ticket via email or online help desk, or can you contact the network construction company directly by phone?

17. How long have web design companies been operating? What are their long-term goals?

It is easy to say that you are a web designer and start a business, but it is difficult to combine the skills and business acumen needed to sustain a company through difficult economic times. Ask the owner what his or her long-term goals are for the web design company.

18. Who owns the website after completion?

Some website construction companies retain the copyright of their works. Ask who owns 100% of the website after the website is completed. This includes graphics, content, and code, and asks if the original design files will be provided to you.

19. How do they continue to hone their skills and keep up with the latest trends?

Does the website construction company invest in its employees and continuing education? Do they attend seminars, workshops, courses? Do they regularly read books and blogs related to the industry? Do they listen to industry related podcasts? Web design, development and digital marketing are changing with each passing day, so it is important for web design companies to understand the latest market research, trends and strategies.

20. How much is it?

The price of a customized website is between 30000 and 150000 according to the function and design difficulty. (This can be used as a reference)

10 key principles for effective website design

1. The main operable goals are easy to achieve (Fitz's Law)

Fitz's law points out that the distance and size of the target element directly affect the time required for users to navigate to it and interact with it. This means that you need to make the main operational goals easy to achieve. (To put it bluntly, what you want users to do on your website, the simpler the design, the better) In addition, if you have multiple goals, there should be enough space between them. For example, when designing for mobile devices, clickable icons need to be large enough to click:

Application of Fitz's Law

The extra spacing between the buttons will ensure that the user does not accidentally click the wrong icon. In general, the minimum clickable area of a mobile design should be 40 x 40 pixels.

2. Keep users' choices to a minimum (Hick's Law)

If you have been overwhelmed by so many choices before you that it is difficult to make a decision between them, you will understand that too many choices will paralyze users. In short, this is Hick's Law. The more options available and the more complex each option is, the longer it takes the user to make a decision.

3. Place relevant elements in the public area (public area rule)

The public area rule states that, If the elements on the page are closely grouped together, they are considered to be interrelated. You can do this using borders, backgrounds, or gaps. This principle is about composition and spacing, and you will want to use it wisely.

4. Use familiar scenarios and logic (Jacob's Law)

Jakob's Law was proposed by Jakob Nielsen, the co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group, and advocates the use of familiar scenarios and logic in UI development. Your users will usually expect and prefer that your website works the same way as other websites they are already familiar with.

Example:

A foreign music website

The ear in the upper left corner represents your position. If the position is different, the sound of the left and right instruments will be different, which will give you an immersive feeling.

5. Use simple structure to avoid complex shapes (Pr ä gnanz rule)

In 1910, psychologist Max Wertheimer observed a series of lights flashing at the railway crossing. Although it looks like there is a lamp moving around the box between the bulbs, it is actually the switch of a series of bulbs.

This observation forms the basis of a set of principles about how we perceive objects visually. One of them is the Pr ä gnanz rule, It recommends using simple structures and avoiding complex shapes.

It is best for your users to use as little cognitive effort as possible to recognize your design. Complex images will be perceived in the simplest form. Reducing cognitive overload should be an important part of your design goals.

You can apply this principle by grouping and aligning elements to related blocks, columns, and sections, rather than throwing them across the page:

Application of Pr ä gnanz rule

6. Place grouped elements close to each other (proximity rule)

Proximity rule indicates that Elements close to each other will be considered as a group 。 This also reduces the cognitive overload of users, because they will be easier to understand information.

Applying this principle is to use spacing wisely. The elements that make up a group should be closer than the elements of different groups.

In many website titles, menu links are combined, while the call to action (CTA) is aligned with or separated from navigation elements in some way:

Proximity rule application

7. Use similarity to group elements (similarity rule)

The similarity rule points out that Similar objects will be considered related, no matter how much separation exists between them. This is the foundation behind the style feature set with similar color schemes, icons, and text:

Application of similarity rule

8. Connect design elements to show their relationship (consistent connectivity rule)

The principle of consistent connectivity points out that, Visually connected elements will be considered more relevant than completely disconnected elements. One application of this rule is to use a progress stepper in your onboarding or checkout process:

Application of Uniform Connectivity Rule

9. Divide the content into small pieces (Miller's Law)

Miller's Law is named after George Miller, a cognitive psychologist, who claims that ordinary people can only retain five to nine pieces of information in working memory. This principle suggests that content be divided into blocks. For example, credit card numbers are usually grouped into four groups to help people parse them.

The law emphasizes the importance of proper design planning. As the application gets bigger and more functional, it becomes more difficult to use. You should plan your interface with this in mind so that it can accommodate new functionality while maintaining ease of use.

Another way to apply this rule is to limit the amount of content that users must perceive at any given time. Divide content into blocks instead of displaying all content in one block:

Application of Miller's Law

In addition, the most popular screen size is considered in the design, and the number of elements that users can see at a glance is controlled.

10. Emphasize the first and last item in the series (series position effect)

This law was created by German psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus, who pioneered the experimental method of measuring memory. It states that Users will best remember the first and last items in the series 。 You can use this trend to highlight the most important areas of the page:

Series position effect application

For example, key content such as CTAs, forms, or purchase options is most effective at the top or bottom of the page.

10 suggestions for website design

1. Let your users know the situation through appropriate feedback

Users need to trust your brand and feel grounded when using your application. This means that your website needs to constantly communicate what is happening and let them know whether their interaction is successful or not.

2. Information should be displayed in logical order and familiar phrases and concepts should be used

Users should not need to refer to a dictionary to understand the terms on your website. You should stick to the words they are already familiar with in your interface text.

3. Realize control and freedom in the way users interact with your website

Users often make mistakes, so they need a way to undo or redo operations, such as using the buttons we mentioned earlier. Similarly, you can consider providing editing options where relevant. (e.g. WeChat message recall button)

With these available functions, users will feel more in control and less nervous in the event of an accident.

Example

4. Compliance with conventions and standards

Compliance with standards is similar to the second principle, which can be regarded as an extension of the second principle. Implement a familiar navigation structure. They should find it easy to understand your interface and access any elements needed to interact with your page.

5. Warn users before they take irreversible action

If the user accidentally clicks the button to log off his/her account, we need an intermediate program to stop the operation. (Although this is also used when we cancel our membership)

6. Keep important information visible

Users do not have to remember information from one step of the process to another, such as checkout or technical settings. You need your user identification, not recall information.

7. Build a system that makes novices and experts feel comfortable

The most widely known principle available here is Tricolor principle , a principle that can be effectively applied anywhere.

8. Make your design beautiful and simple

You need to keep the interface clean and tidy, instead of confusing users with too many options. Unnecessary projects compete for space and reduce the visibility of more important features.

Home page design of a foreign award-winning website

9. Provide easy to understand error information

Clear and understandable error messages can easily identify the root cause of the problem and quickly find possible solutions. You need direct, polite (rather than blaming users) and constructive ways to provide advice on how to solve problems.

10. Provide searchable help documents

Users may sometimes need to refer to additional help information. Your documents should be easy to search so that they can quickly find content related to their situation and solve their problems.

It's not easy to write long articles. If you think it's helpful, please don't skimp on your praise and collection~

If you have any questions or needs about website construction, please contact me~

More high-quality content is constantly updated, and Mufeng Global is very simple, helping more innovative enterprises to achieve brand globalization!