Web Design - Graphic & Web Designer

Design Your Digital Space - A Comprehensive Guide to Website Creation

Hey there,

Whether you’re a passionate blogger, a budding entrepreneur, or an artist eager to showcase your work, creating your own website opens doors to endless possibilities.

The Essence of a Website

Your website is your digital persona. It’s not just a collection of web pages; it’s a dynamic space where you define who you are, what you offer, and why it matters. Think of it as a canvas waiting for your unique brushstrokes to come to life.

Unveiling the Distinction Between Website Design and Development

In the realm of online ventures, understanding the clear difference between website design and development is pivotal. Let’s unravel these intricacies and appreciate the unique roles each plays in bringing your digital vision to life.

1. Website Design: The Creative Blueprint

Imagine your website as a storefront, and the design as the artistic essence that captivates visitors at first glance. Here’s what design encompasses:

Creative Elements: From banners to product displays, design involves the visual and creative aspects that make your site aesthetically appealing.
User Experience: It dictates how visitors navigate through your digital space, ensuring an engaging and intuitive journey.

2. Website Development: The Structural Framework

Contrary to design, development is the backbone, the coding wizardry that makes your website functional. Let’s dive into its realm:

Code Architecture: It involves constructing the framework, the codebase, and the system that forms the backbone of your website.
Functionality: Development ensures that every button, form, and interactive element works seamlessly, turning your design into a fully operational digital entity.

In the web world, designing and developing a website is like crafting a home. Designing, akin to an architect’s creative blueprint, takes the lead in envisioning the aesthetics and user experience. However, development, the builder’s role, follows closely, turning those designs into a functional digital space. Unlike a rigid sequence, corrections and improvements can happen during or after the site goes live, much like enhancing your home post-move-in. It’s important to note that a designer and a developer are distinct players, both crucial for your website to be not just attractive but also fully functional. They collaborate to create a seamless and trustworthy online presence.

In the online world, your website is like a virtual handshake with visitors. Surprisingly, 75% of people decide if a company is trustworthy just by looking at how its website looks and works. This emphasizes why teamwork between designers and developers is so important—it’s about creating a website that not only looks good but also earns trust and reliability from users.

Let's start from the beginning.

To create a website, it involves both the graphic design and the construction aspects. Think of your website like a computer. This computer needs a central unit (server), power (hosting program), a display (domain name), an operating system, memory, and programs to function. Similarly, a website requires a server, hosting program, domain name, construction system, and additional features. Let’s simplify what each of these does:

Server: It’s like your website’s home, where all the data is stored.

Hosting: This is the service that rents server space for your website, determining how much space you get, how fast it runs, and how much memory is available.

Domain Name: Your unique online address, such as www.yoursite.com.

Every name is unique and needs to be registered and recorded in a large directory known as a domain name register. Choosing the right name is equally crucial for your presence on the Internet. Several factors play a role in making the correct name choice:

Availability: Ensure that the name is not already taken or in use.
Length: Consider the length of the name, and shorter names are often easier to remember.
Ease of Spelling: Opt for a name that is easy to spell, especially in Latin characters.
Keywords: If applicable, include relevant keywords that reflect what you offer or represent.

Construction System: These are the tools you use to build your site. Popular ones include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

Website Building System: There are various website building systems available, with WordPress currently powering 30% of websites worldwide. Other systems include Joomla, Drupal, Magento, Open Cart, and more. I choose to create my websites using WordPress, considering it the safest and most user-friendly option for our clients. The vast WordPress community enhances security, ensuring prompt error corrections. This system prioritizes user-friendliness, allowing you, my clients, to easily interact with and manage your website. My goal is to empower you to work on your site independently, making changes without the need to rely on me. Many opt for complex systems to keep clients dependent on their services, discouraging them from switching companies. In essence, they “lock out” website owners.

Plugins: These are like extra programs or tools you can add to enhance your website’s functionality.

Plugins: Add-ons in a system are like extra programs. For instance, if you want a sidebar cart or informative pop-ups on an e-shop, these features are provided by extra add-ons. All add-ons come with a subscription cost, but in the WordPress system, they are obligated to offer free versions. In their free applications, they usually provide half the services. I use the pro versions with specific add-ons that help design and the construction of websites. Typically, my clients opt for our hosting package, which includes their subscriptions to these add-ons. Subscription fees are usually annual, and if not paid, your website won’t change, but you just won’t be able to make modifications.

Understanding these components helps demystify the process of creating a website, making it more accessible for anyone looking to establish their online presence.

Key Points to Consider:

1. When you encounter someone offering a low cost for website creation, be aware that your website, at best, might be a pre-made theme adapted to your colors with all that entails. This happens because there is no graphic designer on their team.

* All my websites, even those built on ready-made themes, have personalized graphic designs tailored to my clients’ corporate identity.

2.Beyond the initial construction cost, there is undoubtedly an annual cost that must be agreed upon before the website is created. It’s essential to be informed about the services for which you’ll be charged, such as:

Website hosting
Domain name renewal
Support for system security upgrades
Subscription fees for the plugins used on your website.

3.You need to pay attention to who holds the intellectual property rights of the website. This means that at any given time, you have the freedom to transfer the website from a server and appoint different responsible administrators. In many companies, this is not clear, but my policy is straightforward: After the payment of the design and creation costs, the client becomes the primary owner of his/she’s property. This also applies to the intellectual property rights of the graphics created exclusively for their use.

4.In the annual hosting fee, it’s essential to be informed about the provided services.

5.The crucial point to note and understand is that having a website or an e-shop doesn’t automatically result in a flood of sales or an increase in your workload. No website offers passive income. You need to use it and work on it to achieve the desired increase in business. Imagine having a car locked in a garage; yes, it’s your property, but it won’t offer anything unless you start the engine. This means a website requires effort, someone dedicated to it. It needs advertising on Google or exposure through platforms like Skroutz, and visibility on social media. Uploading products, creating campaigns, etc., all these actions need to be taken by you.