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Is your business ready to get its first website? Getting a website designed for your company or business is a very exciting journey. Whether you’re just starting out or are a big company, a website is incredibly beneficial for your growth.
Before you get started on the journey and the website build gets underway, there are a few things you need to get sorted first. If you’ve been holding off on a new website or getting a redesign because you’re not sure where to start or what you need, then this one’s for you! So what are the requirements for web design in South Africa?
1. Domain
The first and most important step is getting your website domain name registered. This is the name people will use to find your site and it will be the URL for your website. For example, your domain could be “mywebsite.co.za”, “mywebsite.com”, “mywebsitename.org” etc. To do that, you first need to make sure the domain name you want to use is available and you can secure it by purchasing it.
There are various ways you can check if the domain name you want is available, but the best way to do so is through the company you’re going to host with. That brings us to the next important step – web hosting.
2. Hosting
You cannot have a website without a host. Hosting is the server that will “host” and store all of your website’s coding to make it viewable and live on the internet. Hosting providers charge a monthly fee for your website hosting. It’s important to understand that hosting is not an extra expense, but a necessity. We also recommend you use an independent hosting provider rather than a public domain host. This is because public hosting contains so many sites on their servers that they slow down and will cause your site to load slowly and timeout as well.
We offer a hosting and domain registration service to our clients; although it’s not compulsory to take hosting with us, we encourage our clients to because we use high-end, fast servers which will benefit your website’s user experience and your Google Ranking.
With an independent hosting option, such as ours, you get a dedicated, fast and reliable hosting server with our quick support response in case anything goes wrong.
3. Website Brief
Once you have the above ready, it’s time to write a brief of your requirements to send to the company which you choose to design your site.
The brief should contain the number of pages your site needs, the menu structure, any mention of specific functionality required, plugin needs, the general overview of site requirements, third-party integration mentions; such as MailChimp, and examples of sites you like to help the designer get a better idea of what you have in mind.
A website brief acts as the blueprint for your dream website. It’s a communication bridge between you and the designer, ensuring everyone is on the same page from the get-go. Here’s why a well-crafted website brief is essential:
- Reduced Misunderstandings: Imagine building a house without a detailed plan; yeah it’s probably not going to go so well. Your website is your home on the internet and it needs a plan too! A website brief eliminates guesswork. By clearly outlining your needs (number of pages, menu structure, functionalities), you minimize the risk of misunderstandings and ensure the final product aligns with your vision.
- Targeted Design: The brief allows you to communicate your target audience and the overall purpose of the website. Are you selling products? Showcasing a portfolio? This information helps the designer tailor the website’s look and feel to resonate with your ideal visitors.
- Improved Efficiency: A clear brief saves time and money! By specifying functionalities and plugins upfront, the designer can avoid unnecessary research and focus on tasks relevant to your project. This streamlined approach leads to a more efficient design process.
- Shared Inspiration: Including website examples you like provides the designer with a visual direction for your taste. This doesn’t mean replicating another site, but it offers valuable insights into fonts, color schemes, and layouts that you like.
- Realistic Expectations: The brief allows you to discuss budget and timeline with the designer. By outlining your needs and desired features, the designer can provide an accurate estimate of project costs and timeframe. This transparency helps set realistic expectations for a smooth collaboration.
4. Content
The final important requirement to have ready for your website design is your content. This isn’t 100% necessary to have at the start, but will be required during the final stages.
If you are still busy working on your site content but want the website build to get going, the designers will use dummy text such as Lorem Ipsum and stock images as placeholders. Not all web design companies offer content writing and editing on top of the site design, so you need to make sure you’ve checked through your content for errors and correct structure before sending as the web designer will just copy and paste the text provided.
Conclusion
There are only a few requirements for web design in South Africa. The most important requirements to get organized are your domain name, hosting provider, brief, and website content.
Once you have those details ready, the web design company will provide a quote and will then also have all the information needed to start on the project once the quote is accepted.
Ready to get a website designed for your business? You can view our website design process details on our Web Design page.