With a strategy and design in place, your design team will create your website. Effective websites will be responsive, intuitive and user-friendly. They should be easy for you to manage and update as needed.

The design team creates a design mockup of your site so you can see what your website will look like when fully produced. This step isn’t just for fun — it’s important to confirm that your ideas for the site’s design will work with production limitations. This step is where it’s especially valuable to have professional guidance. Often, inexperienced designers will start by designing a website without first considering limitations, then have to compromise design factors in the later stages of the site’s development to meet requirements. Professional design agencies can help clients come up with website designs that are affordable, engaging and practical.

Once you have an idea of your goals and customer strategy, the next step is creating a “blueprint” or wireframe for your website. During the wireframing process, your design team will map out all the content you want to include on your website. This gives you a better idea of what the finished product will look like and provides you with an opportunity to make revisions before the actual site work begins.

Start by thinking through your business goals and the goals of your website. What are you hoping to accomplish by building a new website or refreshing your existing website? Is it to gain more business? Maybe it’s to enhance your online presence or refresh your brand. Or maybe it’s to make your website more accessible and user-friendly. No matter your end goal, having a clear vision in mind for your website will help shape your design project. Remember: the point is not to renovate for the sake of renovating — it’s to accomplish a defined business goal. Next, think about your customer. Who are your customers and what are they looking for when they search for you online? Create a clear picture of what your customers want and need and think about how you can give them what they’re looking for. You can also use this time to consider new customer bases you may want to appeal to.

Starting a website design project can be both exciting and daunting. As you plan for and start your project, it’s important to carefully plan before starting the actual design and development process. Here are the general steps to follow for typical web design projects.