What To Expect When You’re Websiting: Part 3- GESTATION: THE FORWARD TRIAD- (i) Website Design- For Looks

Continuing with your website’s development being akin to a living thing with stages (and we’ll see how far we can go with that!) I finished at the ‘CONCEPTION’ stage in Part 2 where it actually got graphic, without offending anyone by the way, and the website wireframe was conceived.

Technically, gestation is the phase of development from conception ending with birth. In our analogy the ‘gestation’ phase is where the site is developed beyond the wireframe, putting some substance to that outline or skeleton so to speak and will end with the actual finished website being born.

Again we have to be systematic as to achieve this requires input from you, the site owner, and myself as the designer and it would pay not to be linear in approach as many things can be accomplished at once.

On the Forward Multimedia ‘Website Design’ page, I described my process I call THE FORWARD TRIAD: a trio of concepts I use as guidelines for every website I build.

THE FORWARD TRIAD

Website Design for Looks
Website Design for Functionality
Website Design for SEO

WEBSITE DESIGN FOR LOOKS

I’m yet to hear someone say “I’ve never met a website I didn’t like”. The Trinidad online landscape is replete with butt-ugly websites that no visitors head for the hills the instant they see them. Never mind what they say about inner beauty, if a website is not attractive at the first glance, it’s not going to get more attractive at the second.

Definition of looks

‘Looks’ refer to the visual design and can also be expanded to include ‘look and feel’. The ‘feel’ part overlaps a little into the FUNCTIONALITY aspect so I’ll touch on it now and later. In Trinidad, the most landed on page would be the Homepage so it makes sense to focus a lot of effort into getting it right.

Visual Design

By this I mean the pure visuals: overall look, layout, colors, typography, imagery- all working in concert to make a knockout first impression and entices the visitor to stay and delve deeper. Trinidad websites are notorious for being eyesores and un-inviting and Trini’s are fed up.

Its starts with the template

If you’re hung up about using templates and prefer a uniquely designed website from scratch then start saving at least $2,000 US Dollars and good luck with that. I use templates designed for Content Management Systems which are dynamic and more SEO friendly than static sites. Templates are not to be used exactly the way they are by simply switching demo content with your own. Templates are the starting point, not the finishing, a good web designer will creatively analyze your business and select the appropriate elements accordingly.

Picking the template

Selecting the right template (also known as theme) is an art, even a science by itself as its objective and subjective at the same time. I’ve looked at many Trinidad websites that use themes not really suited for their business. One can’t simply apply a set of rules as it still boils down to listening to my inner voice to make the final decision. Still I have a process, taking into account:

From the business side

The industry in general
The nature of the business
Branding & positioning
The goals of the website
The specific selling points that need to be featured
Similar local and foreign websites

Then look to the template side

Its design and aesthetics itself
General Homepage layout(s)
Special features- e.g. layer sliders, unique widgets, image scrollers, pricing grids, portfolios
Reliability/support of the author
Built-in customization options

Looks are everything as you need to capture your visitor’s attention. Once you have their attention, that’s one foot in your doorway. Now you need to draw them one step further to push the door wide and completely step in and that’s where the next point of the triad comes in. See you then.

October 18, 2012 / Articles, Featured Posts, Online Marketing, Websiting Series

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About the Author

admin

I am Zaf Rahaman, owner of Forward Multimedia Ltd, a Trinidad based digital agency now in our 13th year. Through my experience acquired on the ground since 2011, I’ve become known as one of the foremost authorities in E-Commerce, especially as it pertains to Trinidad & Tobago.

I began writing blog articles on various topics after observing the lack of online information about local E-Commerce. These articles quickly propelled the Forward Multimedia to the number one position on Google for all major industry keywords, a position consistently held since without challenge.

In 2018 I was an invited panelist in the annual Trinidad and Tobago Internet Governance Forum. Also in 2018 I was an invited speaker for the launch of the Virtual Caribbean DNS Entrepreneurship Center (VDECC) an initiative of ICANN- the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international body that that coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS) worldwide.

I was also a stakeholder consultant for the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s National E-Commerce Policy which was passed in December 2018, with many of my recommendations making it to the final policy.

Most of all, I love to write AND love to write on everything website and E-Commerce related to help business owners in Trinidad & Tobago get the most out of their online presence.

ALL articles and pages on my site are written by me, in my voice, from the ground up, and for you, from a Trini perspective, using local examples and applications.