A brief look at any website on Google can reveal whether or not the designer or agency has put thought into proper direction. Direction in web development refers to the planning stages of a website, most importantly, it’s overall message i.e. what the website’s purpose is within the context of your industry and what you intend on communicating to it’s visitors.
While excellent website direction may not seem obvious to a layman, it will be reflected in any website considered to be well orchestrated. Within the context of web design, this is more specifically everything that the actual design encompasses. What’s included on the website, why and where it goes, typography and colour schemes/palettes. On a typical web page this means decisions must be made surrounding the content and images. A website’s copy is it’s ‘life-blood’. For example, like when writing an essay, ask yourself is there a good amount of ‘flow’ in a web page’s copy and is the intended message being received with clarity? Are the images appropriate, placed correctly and do they draw the visitor’s eye? You can call this website architecture and it should all fit together, along with the over-arching principles of direction, in order to create high a high quality website that will deliver.
Within the design aspect, this goes beyond just what looks good and takes account of UX and UI (user experience and interface), which are two very important (usually mutually exclusive) elements within web design. Think about all the times you click onto websites and what your first impression might be. Do you experience confusion or ease on where to find what you need? Your website’s visitors should have an easy time getting around and finding what they need quickly when they land your website, which equals good UX and UI. This is because, as statistics will confirm, the average website’s visitor is typically busy, has a short attention span and a lack of consideration to these two elements can and will lead them to abandon a website fast and go elsewhere. Another example are the pages individual messages; is there total clarity on what you intend on communicating to the visitor? For a website to be successful, it should be directed in accordance with the principles of SEO (search engine optimization). This means it’s content such as the meta data (titles, headings) and on page copy (keywords) should be well-thought out and arranged in such a way as to increase the website’s visibility in the search engines. This is pivotal to standing out amongst the competition in your industry which is achieved by higher rankings, such as on Google.
We understand website direction is a broad and complex topic so get in touch if you have any questions. We at Green Kinkajou believe we are at the forefront of web development regularly and consistently delivering excellent outcomes to our clients projects, with websites designed to work hard for businesses in an ocean of competition, whatever their industry. Talk to us now about your project.