I’m in the process of building two new websites for a client, which has meant revisiting my website design checklist on some of the key things that help captivate and convert website visitors into clients.

Whether you already have a website that needs a refresh or you haven’t quite dipped your toe into building your website just yet, it’s important to get clear on WHAT you want your website to do BEFORE you start building it (or having someone else build it for you!).

Here’s a little checklist on what makes a good website that might help.

A Simple Website Design Checklist Before Starting

Your website should draw customers or clients into a relationship with you and then invite them into a better story. Think of your website like a physical shop where you need to use marketing channels to entice them in and then good content and copy to ensure they keep moving through your shop to discover new things – and purchase!

Here are some of the parts of your website that you should look to organise and understand before starting.

Website Platform, Hosting and Domain

There are many different website platforms you can use to build your website. What you use will depend on your goals. For example, one of my clients wanted to keep things simple due to her fear around technology, so Squarespace was a much better option. While another client wanted the freedom to have more complex design and to build a site that could grow with her business, which made WordPress a better option.

Here are just a few of the options you have:

• WordPress
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Clickfunnels
• Shopify

What you choose will also then depend on whether you need to also look at hosting.

Squarespace is hosted on the Squarespace platform, so no need to go off purchasing hosting. Whereas WordPress will require you to have your own hosting to “house” it on.

Regardless of which one you choose, you will also need to organise your domain name. That’s the part that helps you create your URL. Mine being kellieobrien.com.au

Do you need to use your personal name as your domain name, or do you have a brand name like target.com.au?

Website Theme

Whether you’re using Squarespace or WordPress, you’ll need to decide on a theme. The easiest way to think about platforms and themes is that the

• “platform and hosting” is the place where you house your website and helps create the framework for your site.
• “domain” (or URL) is how people will be able to find it
• “theme” is the skin that goes over your site that allows you to make it pretty.

If you’re opting for WordPress, you’ll find there are endless companies offering theme packages. It can be pretty overwhelming. One of the themes I particularly like is BeaverBuilder, because it’s drag and drop and allows you to be as creative as you like without requiring a high level of tech experience.

Here are some other options:

• StudioPress
• Elegant Themes (Divi 2.0)
• ThemeForest
• BeaverBuilder

You can find themes for Wix and Squarespace on their sites. Then add your theme name to your website design checklist.

Branding Your Website

It’s so important to take the time to collate your branding assets before designing your website, otherwise you’ll end up with a hodgepodge of colours, fonts and ideas.

There are different stages of creating a brand. There is your vision and mission statements, along with your value proposition. These are important and can help develop the copy for your website as well.

Then there are the physical elements.

The three key physical branding elements are:

• Logo – make sure you have a design that showcases what your brand is about
• Brand Colours – find out the best combination of colours for your business, including a main colour, maybe two to three supporting colours and then an accent colour, which can be used to help elements like buttons stand out.
• Fonts – you want to use about two fonts on your site that create a mood and feel for your brand.

Website Menu or Subpages

What pages will you need on your website? We often know the obvious ones, like a homepage, contact page and about page, but what else is important for your business? What do readers need to know about your business and how will they navigate through your website?

Here’s an example of what your pages might be:

• Page 1:  Homepage
• Page 2: About
• Page 3: Work With Me
• Page 4: Products
• Page 5: Blog
• Page 6: Testimonials
• Page 7: Contact

The Hierachy of Your Website

When you take away the colours, fonts, graphics, images and white space, good site design is really about a great structure. Having a great structure will improve your chances of ranking in search engines like Google too. What pages will you need on your website and what is the hierarchy?

Here’s an example: 

Home	Services		Location		About	Contact
		Sydney	Wollongong	Nowra

The main menu items are Home, Services, Location, About and Contact. But you’ll see that the Location menu item also has “subpages” underneath it. In a menu, this might be a dropdown feature that shows the four locations where you service.

Once you know your pages and the hierachy of your website, then I’d encourage you to think about WHERE is each page leading to or WHAT step do I want the website user to take next?

Every page should have ONE goal behind it that moves the user one step closer to working with you or connecting with you.

This is the basics of understanding what you want for your website, before then diving into things like your homepage structure and SEO of your website.

But more on those later. First, start with the website design checklist for beginners.

For now, if you need help with designing your website, reach out.