Most people under estimate the design of their website. That’s because most people tend to think in functional terms of the underlying site. They also tend to have their own perspective on the site – on what they would want to see. But design is a very important aspect of your website. It isn’t a “frilly” thing that shouldn’t be considered. Let me give you some reasons that you must consider design and then move onto some ideas for getting a good design.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list by any means. I just want to impress upon you the need to take a step back and consider some things. First, design can help you think through the usability of a site. I can distinctly remember going to some nightmare sites in terms of usability. They are the ones that have flashing neon colors, music playing in the background, links in places where you can’t find them, etc. You last about .0012 seconds on the site because it is so unusable. Instead of thinking about what you want to randomly put into your site, think about how the user will use your site. Think through where they would look for things, like navigation. Make it easy for them to use your site. You may even want to get the most non-technical folks to help you. Grab like 5 people who use the internet, but have no technical knowledge on how it works. Get men and women – and folks who are different in other ways like age, race, etc. Build a mock-up site. Have them critique it.

Now, after this you should have a much better idea on what to use and what not to use. Now, think about how you want to present this site. What color scheme do you want to use. Different colors give rise to different emotions. Also, think about how you want to dress the site or skin it. Do you want to promote a brand? Do you want to make it really personal? What is your goal with this website? All those things should dovetail together to give that goal momentum. So, give the user exactly what they want, in an easy to find manner, with great usability, that pushes your goal forward. That’s what design can do for you.

Now, you just have to think through how you want to get that design done. There are many routes here. If you have a large budget, you can hire a professional and get their expertise. They can walk you through your vision and give you an incredible end product. But, you may have a very limited budget. In that case, look for sample templates or think about hiring a college or high school student. You could easily hire a college design student to do the work.

Good luck!