What is a Website Wireframe Everything You Need to Know
Seo Manager Seo Manager

What is a Website Wireframe? Everything You Need to Know

Before you decide to design a building, what is the first thing that you do? You sketch out the building and create its blueprints. You design each floor with a lot of detail and make sure that all the details are accurate. Without proper planning, you cannot start building. The same concept applies to website design. Without wireframes, you cannot execute a website. If you end up designing your website without wireframes, it will not last long and will instead cost you your potential customers.

When you decide to create a website design, the first part is designing the wireframe. When building or redesigning a website, your primary focus must be the user experience as a separate part of the same puzzle. Wireframes allow you to test drive the website page layout and estimate the user flows to see precisely how the new website will function. They also show any potential mistakes that may eventually mess with your site’s conversions.

In this article, we will discuss wireframes, the process for creating websites, the types of wireframes that can be used, and how to create a wireframe. So, let us get started.

What is a Website Wireframe?

A website wireframe is similar to blueprints or maps of a new website design’s main features and navigation. It helps the designer understand the site’s functionality before considering it as a visual piece, such as the color schemes and content.

Features and layouts, such as the buttons and menus, are first mapped out to assess the end user’s overall experience. A website wireframe also provides a realistic map or layout of the process, and this step should not be skipped or seen as time-consuming. But wireframes are about preparing yourself for the betterment of your website.

Without wireframes, the process of completing your website in time without any errors would cost you more time and effort. Moreover, working without a plan makes you lose a sense of direction as compared to working with one. So, considering website wireframes levels up your design process and reduces the risk of a project failing altogether.

Read more: 5 Types of Web Design With Their Pros and Cons.

Why Make a Website Wireframe?

Creating a website wireframe allows you to identify and take advantage of the best opportunities to improve your website’s functionality, simple navigation, and convenience to impress your users. It also helps website designers and developers collaborate better to gather their clients’ feedback before they start the design process.

With that being said, it is important to have wireframes for your website design. Regardless of how big or small your website is, a wireframe is crucial. This can help you stay on track with each level of your website design and development process. It is always good to look back at wireframes to see that your designers and developers are on track with the exact kind of website you want.

Let us look into more reasons for why making a website wireframe is mandatory:

Wireframes Help Visualize Website Architecture

Wireframes form the basis or the first building blocks of your website’s layout and structure. Taking the example of a building, it’s just like designing and sketching out the floors and the number of rooms, etc. With wireframes, you can visualize your website structure more clearly before you decide on the final layout.

When this step is done on paper, you can go through the trial-and-error process of discovering what looks best for your website design. This helps designers align the navigation, content placement, sections, and more for the website layout. Without a wireframe, your core elements will be chaotic, and making the trials on the actual work can be a problem.

Interesting read: Nothing to Do? 78 Random Websites To Waste Time on When You’re Bored.

Wireframes Promote Iteration and Feedback

As wireframes take a more step-by-step approach, giving feedback at each step is easier than with a website design without one. Wireframes lack detailed design features and elements, which makes it faster to make changes than on the original project.

Depending on how you go about this, a professional website design agency will always make wireframes before touching the actual project to reduce the cost of time and effort.

Wireframes Save Time and Resources

As we have mentioned before, what sounds better to you: designing and creating the whole website design and then making changes, or making a wireframe that can be simply and easily edited whenever and however you like without the cost of doing the complex steps of an actual website design?

Pretty sure you went for the second option.

Because all the relevant departments are involved in creating a wireframe for your site, changes at later stages become much easier, leading to savings in time, effort, and resources. It is also more reasonable to make changes while in the wireframe stage because it requires less effort than when you move to the more detailed parts of the website design and development process. Finding any changes at this stage makes the design process a breeze. It is ideal to discover later when you have finalized and included the fonts, colors, and images.

Wireframes Refines Website Functions

A wireframe shows stakeholders how each aspect of your website works. It also indicates how you expect users to navigate and interact with your site from the whole process to the conversion stage.

By giving a glimpse into how visitors and users will interact with your website, you can gain a clearer understanding of what may be expected. A website wireframe can reveal any aspect of its design or functionality that can be later improved to better assist users in reaching their desired goals and encourage them to do so, such as making a purchase, reading a blog, or signing up for a newsletter.

When Should You Create a Wireframe?

You should consider creating a wireframe during the early development and design stages of your website design because this will help you figure out and correct any errors in judgment or the design layout. Ultimately, this gives you more time to correct those errors without having to do much work. In terms of collaborations, wireframes are used to work effectively with a team of website designers and developers. Since this helps them explain concepts to your clients.

Most wireframes are more detailed and advanced as compared to others. This is why we suppose it is wise to start off with a low-fidelity wireframe. What are low-fidelity wireframes, you must ask? Low-fidelity wireframes indicate the general localization of features and elements on the screen. These initial designs, which are developed, can later turn into a high-fidelity wireframe, which provides so much more detail. For example, what could the final website layout look like?

Whether you choose a high-fidelity wireframe or a low-fidelity wireframe depends on the size of your project, the time it needs, and when it needs to be delivered.

Learn more: 15 Ways To Increase Website Traffic.

When Should You Skip on Making a Wireframe?

This is a question that we should really pay attention to because we certainly do not recommend skipping wireframes. However, there are some situations and circumstances that may require you not to make a wireframe.

The first reason is that the website you are designing is small. And by small, we mean very small, like a few pages. Small websites or personal projects with a single purpose might not make you want to create a wireframe since, usually, these sites possess only 1-3 pages and no external stakeholders.

The second reason is that when your project has high-fidelity needs. A detailed prototype works better than a wireframe when a website project has high-fidelity needs. This is mainly because customers might not get all they are looking for in wireframes that are not too detailed.

How to Create a Simple Wireframe

Here, we will cover the basics of how you can create a simple wireframe. While this may sound all easy while you read it, it is! But, without the help of professionals, the process can be tricky and time-consuming. If you are all about taking the time to design your website, design wireframes, and then go all the way. While it is not advised, you will understand why later. But for the sake of knowledge and understanding, let us get on the list.

1. Identifying the Goal of Your Website

Before you design your website, you would like to discover its purpose and its goal or intention. Before taking the pen to start designing a wireframe, you will find it useful to understand your website’s goal. While it might seem obvious at first that you want to bring as much traffic as the server can handle and increase your customers, it is still important to know what all those visitors will see that grabbed their attention to your site in the first place.

Should your visitors view your site for a purchase? Or should they successfully download an app? Maybe you would like them to see a certain page before they move on to the next website. Whatever your goal, you should make sure that your team is aligned with it so that the steps go smoothly and there are no errors.

2. Understanding User Flow

Wireframes help you identify and discover the user flows so that everyone in your company will understand how visitors should interact with each page on your site. While this step is being taken, it is recommended to outline each entry point a visitor could use to land on your homepage and then choose a few primary entry points to create a journey flow.

Before you sketch a wireframe, it is important to outline the user flow in text format. This is important because the moving steps are easier and faster when written than when mocked up.

3. Understand the Website Wireframe Size

Your wireframes will vary and change depending on the screen size your users and visitors will view your website on based on their device. It also depends on the screen size you are creating for them. Mobile devices, desktops, screens, and more will all vary in size, of course. It is also important to mention that you can scale the window on a desktop.

You can simply use pixel measurements that are either available online or leave them to professionals, such as WebsVent’s website design and development team. Make the website designing process easier with a seasoned team of experts in the field of custom web design. We create mockups to better envision the success of your site.

Learn more: What is Backlinking And Its Importance in SEO.

4. Start Your Website Wireframe Creation

Now, this is when you start creating your website wireframe. If you are doing this on your own, you may have some struggles, but when you hire an agency, the whole process is much easier. Start by visualizing your user flow in a wireframe. If you are using a pen and paper, grid paper with dotted lines helps keep the design aligned. It will be much easier to transfer the physical version of your wireframes to a digital copy.

If you are starting with a digital wireframe, then it is important to choose a tool that best works for you and the wireframe fidelity it needs,

5. Figure Out the Conversion Points

Once you have designed or sketched out your wireframes, it is time to decide exactly how the user should go through your site step-by-step. Just because you have outlined the steps the user should supposedly take does not mean they are intuitive. At this point, you will determine what hyperlinks, images, buttons, and other features and elements on the page will guide the reader to the next step until they reach the expected and desired goal.

6. Leave Out Redundant Steps

Wireframing is an iterative process, and there is a lot of trial and error. It is rare to do a single round of sketching or designing for your website’s wireframe and expect it to be perfect in the first shot. You may also notice some web pages are redundant and can be combined to create fewer clicks for the user. Whenever an opportunity comes in front of you to simplify your website design, whether it be the wireframe process, you should grasp that and consider it.

7. Get Feedback on the Wireframe Made

Your website will undergo many rounds of revisions and tests before it goes live. However, getting feedback is important because it is the best time to make those changes on your wireframes in the beginning.

As we have mentioned before, doing this on your own can be difficult. This does not mean that it is not achievable, but the time, money, effort, and trial and error involved become extensive and excruciatingly delayed. It is best to collaborate with a professional website design agency to get their professional opinions on the wireframe flows and more. It can prevent a lot of unnecessary actions taken.

What Should I Include on a Website Wireframe?

For your wireframes, it is important that it serves its purpose. It should contain the following key elements:

Page Hierarchy

It is important to clearly highlight and outline how you want the content to appear on your website in the same order you wish for it to be presented and how it should appear. This applies to footers, headers, and all the other sections.

Content Sections

Your wireframes should show the different content areas and sections you are expected to have on your website. These content areas or sections should include the hero section, testimonials, categories, and so on. Together, these content areas should work in harmony to achieve the initial purpose of creating the site.

Links and Buttons

CTAs are essential for website designs. You must show all your call-to-action buttons and where they are expected to be on your website. These CTAs should align with the action you want your users to take and not look like they are simply stuffed in with no purpose.

User Journey

If you are creating a high-fidelity wireframe, you should incorporate the expected user journey. A user journey mapping depicts the paths users take from when they first arrive on your website until they complete their full inspection of your site. The bonus here is if they take an action on your site, such as completing a purchase or signing up for the newsletter.

Notes

Notes give content to different kinds of elements on your wireframe. You will likely be showing the wireframe to stakeholders who do not have design or marketing roots. These notes will then help them understand how the website is supposed to work and look.

Helpful read: Tips To Rank Higher On Google: Your 10-Step Guide.

Improve Your Website Wireframe Process with WebsVent

If you want a functional website, you will have to start off by making a proper plan for executing the right design. As we have mentioned above, a wireframe can help you easily map out the elements of each page and make changes as you wish to make. We recommend starting off with a low-fidelity wireframe and, as you gradually add more details, moving on to a higher one. If you decide to use a tool, it can still take you time, while the learning process may be fun. But why go through all this hassle of self-discovery and still come out with errors? Because, boy, have we seen that happen!

With WebsVent, you no longer have to worry about how your website wireframes will turn out. Our seasoned professionals deliver a custom approach that is true to you and your brand. Start designing your website wireframe today with our services and achieve your desired goals faster without any changes needed.

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