A website is a sales tool, not a brochure. Designing one well is a process — skip steps and you ship a pretty page that nobody buys from. Here are the six steps that matter.
Table of contents
- Define the goal and the audience
- Pick the right platform
- Design the layout
- Write content that lands
- Functionality and responsive design
- Test and ship
Define the goal and the audience
Before touching a design tool, answer two questions: what should a visitor do here, and who is that visitor? A B2B SaaS landing page for a CFO has nothing in common with a portfolio for a freelance illustrator. The goal drives every decision after this — wireframes, copy, CTAs, even colour. If you can't write the goal in one sentence, you're not ready to design.
Pick the right platform
WordPress, Webflow, Framer, Wix, Squarespace, or a custom build — each has trade-offs. WordPress wins on flexibility and SEO control but demands maintenance. Webflow ships fast with clean code but ties you to their ecosystem. Custom builds (Astro, Next.js) win on performance but cost more upfront. Match the platform to your goal and your team's skills, not to whatever's trending on Twitter.
Design the layout
First impressions form in under 50 milliseconds. The layout decides whether visitors stay or bounce.
Three things matter most: contrast, hierarchy, and whitespace. High contrast between text and background — WCAG AA at minimum. Visual hierarchy that guides the eye to the action you want (look at how Stripe or Linear use size and weight to push you toward signup). Whitespace that lets content breathe — cramped layouts feel cheap.
Colour has psychology. Blue reads trustworthy, orange reads energetic, green reads safe. Pick a palette that matches the brand and the desired emotion, then stick to it. Three colours, max.
Navigation should be obvious within two seconds of landing. If a visitor has to hunt for the menu, you've already lost.
Write content that lands
Content drives conversion more than design does. The rules are simple:
- Write for one person, not a crowd. Use "you", not "users".
- Lead with the benefit. The feature comes second.
- Cut every word that doesn't earn its place. If a sentence still works without it, delete it.
- Break text into short paragraphs. Three lines max on mobile.
- Use headings that work as a table of contents. A reader scanning H2s should understand the page.
- Bold the load-bearing phrases. Don't bold half the page.
Place CTAs where intent peaks: above the fold, after the value proposition, after social proof, at the end. Same wording each time — pick one verb and stick with it.
Functionality and responsive design
Buttons must work. Forms must submit. Sounds obvious, but launch-day broken contact forms are a classic. Test every interactive element on every page before launch.
Keep forms minimal. Each field cuts conversion by roughly 5%. For a newsletter signup, ask for an email — that's it. For a sales lead, ask for what you actually need to qualify, nothing more.
Responsive isn't a nice-to-have. Over 60% of web traffic is mobile, and Google indexes mobile-first. Test on a real phone, not just Chrome DevTools — touch targets, font sizes, and tap areas behave differently in the wild. Look at the GOV.UK design system for a benchmark on accessible, mobile-friendly patterns.
Test and ship
Before launch: click every link, submit every form, view every page on iPhone, Android, desktop. Run Lighthouse — aim for 90+ on Performance and 100 on Accessibility. Check Core Web Vitals. Set up analytics and conversion events before traffic hits the page, not after.
Then ship. A website is never "done" — you'll improve copy, add pages, fix friction. The first version exists to learn from real users, not to be perfect.
The website that wins isn't the prettiest one. It's the one that makes the goal you defined in step one easy and obvious for the audience you defined alongside it.
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