Webdesign: What you need to know to build your site

What is Web Design?

Understanding Web Design

Web design, often complementary to graphic design, allows you to create, redesign websites, web applications, and even ergonomic landing pages that are user-focused and attractive. Web design creates and organizes information—both visual and textual—on these communication platforms to effectively convey the right message to users.

Users must easily and quickly see and understand the information presented. You need to give them enough confidence to take action (for example, requesting a quote or making contact). To achieve this, focus on:

• Optimal user experience (UX design)

• Easy reading and navigation

• Sufficient visual appeal

Web design follows different stages, from discovering needs through creating graphic mockups to launching the site. This is why working with a web design agency or web agency with expertise can be beneficial. They guide clients in establishing the website's visual identity and digital strategy to acquire new clients.

The Web Designer: Definition

Web designer is a digital profession related to website and application design. Using essential documents like specifications including all elements corresponding to the graphic charter, site architecture, requested features, etc., provided by clients, the web designer creates graphics and interfaces, highlighting content through colors, typography, media, illustrations, and animations, under the supervision of an art director.

But this web profession doesn't stop there, as web designers must understand all web constraints. They have numerous skills, including:

• Mastery of graphic creation tools (Photoshop, Illustrator, XD, etc.)

• Knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript languages

• Ability to transform information into visuals

• Skills in organizing and prioritizing information

• Knowledge and mastery of different typography and iconography

• Responsive design and ergonomics competencies

• Understanding of web technical constraints (accessibility and devices)

Why Web Design?

To Work on Your Site's Aesthetics

A website's aesthetics are very important—you need to seek harmony between all its components. Having a clean site with coherent colors and typography, relevant iconography, visuals and media, and clear information formatting are all factors necessary to boost your website's UX and UI.

To Optimize User Experience

All visual elements—images, animations, colors, placement—of a website will send messages and influence visitors' visual sensations. This contributes to their user experience and drives acceptance of your offering (service or product).

To Improve Ergonomics and Accessibility

Your site's design should improve ergonomics and therefore facilitate its use. When we talk about ergonomics, we generally think of icons and CTAs that lead to specific actions to perform on the site.

Tip: To optimize a site's ergonomics, it's also important to prioritize information hierarchy.

To Reassure Users

By having a quality, structured website, you'll send a positive message to users who will consider you reliable. Appearance is crucial—visitors will judge you within the first few seconds, so your site must be impeccable to avoid losing potential clients.

To Convey the Right Message

For effective digital communication on a website, you must clearly define your message through web design. You can convey it through humor, questioning, or imagination to seduce and create memorable anchoring. Web design will help you harmonize everything to create a graphic tone that aligns with your message.

How to Work on Your Website's Web Design?

Prerequisites for Your Web Design

Ask the Right Questions

It's important to ask the right questions before launching website development, such as:

• What is the site's objective: Increase your visibility? Gain new clients? Present your company and expertise?

• Who is your target: What should your site correspond to? Who will browse your site? How do you meet their needs and habits? What are they looking for?

First, Find Inspiration

To develop your website in web design, everything starts with your inspiration. This is where you can choose a style that suits you.

You have access to different sites and platforms to stimulate your creativity like Pinterest, Behance, or Site Inspire.

Always Create Mockups Before Designing

Mockup creation is an essential step before developing a website. These wireframes allow you to put your site's plan on paper with different user journeys, CTA placements, visual and text blocks, etc.

This step helps simplify your development because you can easily modify the structure without having to destroy all the web development of your future site, perform layout tests, and identify potential errors.

This is why before launching your website creation, think about including your mockup stage. There are different wireframe tools to help you!

Reflecting on Your Web Design Elements

Aesthetic Elements

• Find Your Illustrations and Animations

Illustrations are important—they help optimize understanding of your texts. Your graphic charter should guide you in designing visuals that must be professional to match your brand image.

You can use royalty-free image banks like Unsplash or Freepik. Animations are also an integral part of web design—they attract visitors' attention and shouldn't be neglected!

• Work on Your Text

Writing and site design should happen almost simultaneously to create a coherent and balanced website. Your text must align with your visual identity, both in content (your tone) and form (your chosen typography).

This is why you shouldn't neglect font choices—they must align with your colors and graphics.

• Prioritize Your Information

Prioritizing information is one of web design's fundamental principles. It's essential to help your visitors understand your website and capture their attention (with color codes, different sizes, distinguishing elements, etc.) toward main information then secondary information.

To clearly prioritize your information, it's important not to overload your pages. If your visitors can't easily identify the information they need, they'll look elsewhere—at your competitors, for example.

Functional Elements

• Optimize Navigation on Your Website

Complicated navigation that lacks fluidity can harm your traffic and natural referencing. It's one of the key elements of an effective website—it should help your visitors discover you simply, provide easy access to your different pages, and boost user experience.

• Push Users to Interact

To help users interact maximally with your site and take action, you must simplify your website's use as much as possible (clicking, scrolling, etc.) and give visitors the feeling of having full control over their navigation.

Certain practices—like underlining non-clickable text, intrusive pop-ups, or automatically launching videos—harm interactions on your website.

• Create a Site That Adapts Easily

Your website and its features must be adapted to different devices your users might use (tablet, mobile, computers). This is called responsive design—it impacts user experience by making a website accessible regardless of screen size. This will also strengthen your natural referencing!

Web Design Pitfalls to Avoid

Wanting to Innovate at All Costs

Innovation is good—it's even important to want to stand out from competition. But you shouldn't innovate at the risk of losing users in their navigation.

For example, the classic logo in the top left of a website that returns to the homepage is a navigation element we all know that allows visitors to orient themselves easily. Similarly, menu placement should remain simple and familiar to avoid losing visitors who can quickly become frustrated if they can't find what they want.

Favoring Beauty Over Necessity

Having a beautiful website is important and non-negligible for encouraging visitors to return. But it's better to favor a clear and readable site.

Having too many visuals, incomprehensible typography, omnipresent animations will harm your site, its loading, and user experience. These are elements that should support you—they shouldn't distract visitors from your objective: conveying your message.

Forgetting Your Natural Referencing

Natural referencing, or SEO, encompasses all actions you must implement so your website can be present in search engines. By present, I mean being in Google's top results. To achieve this, you need optimized text, not just visuals.

It's essential for your website development because without good referencing, you'll have little or no traffic and visibility.

Insufficient UX Work

User experience is a central element in web design. It's what allows users to navigate easily and pleasantly on your website.

If your UX is neglected, your site won't be optimal for visitors, who risk quickly moving to another site if yours doesn't meet their expectations. For example, it's important that your website be responsive design and that each of your contents be designed and created to be clearly visible on any screen.

Neglecting Your Call-to-Actions (CTAs)

CTAs or call-to-actions are buttons that will encourage visitors to perform the action you want (example: fill out a form, contact you, subscribe to your newsletter, download a template, etc.).

They must be strategically placed on your website based on the action you expect. Similarly, color is important so the text is attractive and readable.

Web Design Training

What Studies Are Needed to Become a Web Designer?

To become a web designer, you need a minimum bac+2 level with training such as:

• DUT multimedia and internet careers (MMI)

• BTS visual communication multimedia option

But to secure your position against tough competition in this field, it's better to continue your studies. You'll find notably:

• Audiovisual and multimedia license

• Arts and image techniques license

• Professional license in digital careers: web design, writing and creation

• Professional license in sciences, technologies, health and communication techniques

• Professional license in mathematics, computer science and technologies, image and sound techniques and activities

Then, to reach master's level:

• Professional Master Culture and communication specializing in interface design

• Professional Master Arts and image technologies

• Professional Master Arts, creation and digital engineering

• Professional Master multimedia and internet interface design

• Diplomas from schools specializing in web, communication, design and multimedia careers

What Are Web Design Careers?

The web design field encompasses different subjects. You'll find specializations like:

• UI Designer

• UX designer

• Flash designer

• Illustrator

You can also evolve toward positions with greater responsibilities, such as:

• Editor-in-chief

• Creative director

• Art director

What Salary for a Web Designer?

Salary in web design varies by company and location where you want to work, but for a beginner, gross monthly salary is around €1800.

Note that many web designers work freelance. If you choose to become independent, it's up to you to negotiate your projects.