Creative Business: Website Design
Part 2 in a series introducing writers and artists to the business side of creating.
If you’re new here or missed last month’s start to this series about the business side of creativity, you can read part 1 here, where we discuss the basics of a website. As with that one, this one starts with a story from my college years.
Remember, I went to university about 20 years ago. Websites were out and about, and being used, but they weren’t the everything that they are today. When I took a web design class, it was less about coding and more about the look of things. In fact, I learned next-to-no coding and played with Adobe Dreamweaver (R.I.P. Or good riddance?).
However, the crowning jewel of the class was a textbook that’s message was so obvious, I’ve never forgotten it:
The best websites are the simple ones.
Unfortunately, I have completely forgotten the title of the book and I can’t find it anywhere. So the message isn’t actually what the text said, but my takeaway. Everything below is what I’ve learned over the years, starting with that textbook and evolving through experience, both as a designer and as a user.
Is that a collective sigh of relief I hear? If not, I’ll repeat the point:
Your site needs to be easy to use. That’s all.
You don’t need three levels of drop-down menus or fancy animation to have a good website. All you need is a place for your visitors to find what they’re looking for.
Disclaimer: I’m not a tech expert. I can’t tell you a lick about coding a site from the ground up. BUT I am a pro at explaining things in a clear and concise way, which I hope gives creatives a basic understanding of the tech side of a small business.
Before we lay out organizational solutions, let’s list what you’ll use your website for.
Write down the purpose of your website.
Start with the big idea, the whole reason you’re making a website. Then list out other, less important things you’ll do with it.
Here is what mine would look like:
Website Goal: Market my books
Additional Uses:
A digital portfolio of work and illustration
Contact form for people to reach out to me
Link to online shops
Button to subscribe to my newsletter
I’ll bet your list is awesome, but it’s what you want. Before you get to work, you need to think like a user.
Consider what goes through your mind when you’re searching the web or typing in a url. Ask yourself the following questions, as if you’re a stranger who’s found your site, and take notes:
How did I find this website?
What am I looking for?
How can this person or product help me?
The answers to these questions will help you shape the organization of your site. (They’ll also help you create content in a way that will lead people to your site, but that’s a topic for another newsletter—maybe the next in this series?) Right now, let’s talk terms and organization, using the home as a metaphor for your website. It is, after all, your digital home. The very first thing people see when they arrive is the…
Landing Page
A landing page (also known as a home page) is what a user sees when they type in your url (i.e.: heidimrogers.com). It is like what visitors see as soon as they pull up to your house.
Your landing page is your first impression.
Not everyone will have the same goals with their first impression, but I can tell you that no one wants their first impression to be confusing. Simplicity and clarity is key.
My site, at the moment, lands on my headshot and bio, with bright buttons underneath to specific things of interest. It’s not sleek or fancy, but for now, it’s the simplest way to explain who I am and what I do. Once I have a book for sale,1 I will probably change my landing page to advertise the book, guiding readers directly to what they want: the book.
Your landing page may feature a full-screen photo of your pottery, a question that your clients are looking to have answered (and you provide the answer with your services), or a tagline for your brand. Whatever it is, it needs to clearly address the main goal you wrote down for your site. From there, users will look for a…
Menu
The menu is what people click on to find their way around your site. Think of it like the entryway or hallway between rooms in your house. Once you’re inside, where do you go to look for the bathroom? The dining room? The living room or backyard where the party’s at? Do you want to lead your guests on a labyrinthine wild goose chase and hope they don’t pee their pants? Absolutely not.
Like good architecture, websites should be beautifully simple to navigate.
Every site has a menu. It’s what users expect. Don’t reinvent the wheel in order to be edgy. It’ll just annoy people. You need this in order to give people what they’re looking for.
Go back to the list you created with your main goal and additional uses for your website. Think about the most sensical ways to group things and what needs priority. Always, always consider this from a user’s perspective. If they’re shopping for plastic-free, handmade earrings, make sure “earrings” is a category in your menu and “plastic-free” is mentioned everywhere, especially your landing page.
Finally, you’re probably planning an…
Online Shop
An online shop is where customers can purchase your goods and services. If you’re just starting out, I recommend finding a reputable third-party with low fees to host your shop. If you’re an author, you might not have any control over where your books are being sold, but it’s certainly through a retailer and not directly on your site. You want to make the shop a menu item and bring attention to it throughout your site with buttons or embedded links in images.
Always set links to external urls that open in a new window.
You don’t want users or visitors to lose track of you and your site. By setting links to your shop, which is not hosted on your domain name, to open in a new tab or window, you’re ensuring that your website stays open and a customer can easily click back over to it for more information or to browse again.
It doesn’t matter how many years go by or how tech changes, I stand by the belief that user experience needs to be simple and clear.2 I hope that by walking you through these ideas and basics of website design, you feel empowered to get started on the website you need for your small creative business.
Browse and read the other parts of the Creative Business series here.
If you found this before I’ve written the whole series, subscribe so you don’t miss the next topic!
May we feel ready to take the leap on our talents.
Love, Heidi
I may or may not be working toward getting a novel published this summer. Stay tuned!
Someone needs to hire me to redesign and edit instruction manuals already.
Great info! I have a website, but my landing page certainly needs work. I'm almost to the point where I can pay for a better hosting service.