Ensure ease of maintenance

It is highly unlikely you’ll stick with the same design you came up with over a decade ago. If you are, then it might be time for an upgrade.

Now we’re not suggesting you perform a major overhaul here. Instead, you may want to tweak an element here or there, to keep clients from getting bored. This change could be as small as shifting your logo a little towards left, updating pictures or changing the shapes of your buttons.

If you’re using a content managing system (CMS) such as WordPress or Joomla, then this change is no problem. All you would need to do is log in to your CMS and edit your site as you see fit.

When you’re working in a custom designed website here are the three main things you want to communicate to your developer:

• Keep the code segmented with proper comments so you can figure out which chunk is responsible for what feature of your website. 
• Ask them to prepare documentation and manuals in plain, easy to understand the text. Make sure you ask them to break down anything you may struggle with in the future.
• Ensure they provide a support line for any issues that may arise.

For your convenience, here a checklist of the website principles we described in this article:

• Compliance with formal guidelines, privacy regulations and Cyber Security
• Testimonial
• Inclusion for people with conditions
• Usability
• Scalability
• Ease of maintenance

As already mentioned, this list works as a mere guideline. The principles are some simple yet essential tips to provide you with a basic overview of how you can create a website.

Over time, as peoples’ preference and demands change, newer design principles will be put in place, but for now, have fun and embrace the process that is designing your brand new website!