The development of web design templates can transform the web developers and designers. Designing a site on behalf of a client or doing it on your own, templates assist in simplifying the process of development and guaranteeing consistency on various pages. You can use the right approach to make beautiful reusable templates that save time and effort in the long-term perspective. In this tutorial we will guide you through the process of designing web design templates that are not only good to look at but also easy to work with.

The Basics of Web Design Templates

What is a Web Design Template?

A web design template is a ready-made webpage or pages to be customized and used in your site. Templates usually have layouts, colors, fonts, and other components such as headers, footers, and buttons, which are intended to be reusable. The advantage of templates is that they offer a good start point to create websites, you do not have to waste time on design and you end up with a professional looking one.

Why Use Web Design Templates?

Templates are good since they enable you to create a professional looking web site without having to do it all over again. A template can make it much easier to create a portfolio, an e-commerce site or a blog, so that you can concentrate on the content but not the design features. Also, templates are an excellent method to keep everything consistent on all pages of a site to create a unified user experience.

Plan Your Web Design Template

Define the Purpose of Your Template

It is crucial to know the aim of the template before going into design. Ask yourself: What type of website is this for? Is it a business site, personal blog or e-commerce site? The layout, design elements, and features that you will need to incorporate in the template will be dictated by the purpose. As an example, a portfolio site may be minimalistic in design and focus on imagery, whereas an e-commerce site may require a grid layout to show products.

Create a Wireframe

A wireframe is a blueprint for your website layout. It demonstrates the location of such elements as navigation bars, images, text, and buttons. Wireframing is an important part of the web design process, because it allows you to see how the template is going to work, before you begin to code or style it. Wireframes can be created with the help of such tools as Sketch, Figma, or Adobe XD, or you may use a pen and paper.

Choose Your Design Tools and Technologies

Design Software for Mockups

When you are ready with your wireframe, you should select a design tool to develop the visual display of your template.

Popular options include:

Adobe Photoshop: It is a traditional web design tool, which is ideal for pixel perfect designs.

Figma: This is a team-based web-based design tool that is ideal in working with teams.

Sketch: A design tool that is particularly useful to macOS users, which is commonly used in UI/UX design.

Adobe XD: This is a vector design tool that is compatible with other Adobe products.

These tools enable you to come up with quality mockups, which demonstrate how your template will appear after it is developed.

Front-End Development Tools

You will require front-end development skills to be able to implement your design.

Common front-end languages and tools include:

HTML/CSS: HTML is the base of a web page, and it deals with structure whereas CSS deals with design and layout.

JavaScript: Applied in adding dynamism and interactivity such as drop-down menus or image sliders.

Bootstrap: A widely used front-end framework that gives you pre-built elements and grid layouts for responsive design.

SASS/LESS: CSS preprocessors which make the writing of CSS easier and more effective.

Build the Structure of Your Web Design Template

Create the HTML Structure

The initial part of coding your template is to code the HTML of the design. This is the establishment of the skeleton of your page which includes your header, navigation menu, main content area and footer. Begin by writing semantic HTML, tags such as <header>, <nav>, <main>, and <footer>, since it will help you to make your code cleaner and accessible.

Style with CSS

Next, you’ll use CSS to style your layout. First start with the main components like header, footer and navigation bar. Use CSS properties such as flexbox or grid for responsive design. Ensure that your styles are clean and well-organized and make your classes and IDs simple to customize.

Make Your Template Responsive

Responsive Design

In the world today, it is essential to make sure that your web design template should be compatible with all screen sizes. A responsive template is one that automatically changes its layout to suit the size and type of device like smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. To make your template responsive, use CSS media queries.

Test on Multiple Devices

After your template is responsive, test it in different devices to make sure it looks awesome and works well. Utilize the tools available such as the Developer Tools on Chrome, to test various screen sizes, or test it on real devices where possible.

Add Final Touches and Optimize

Add Interactivity with JavaScript

Engage your template with JavaScript to improve user experience. This may involve the development of image sliders, dropdown menus or modals. To have these features, use JavaScript libraries such as jQuery or vanilla JavaScript.

Optimize Your Template

Speed and performance optimization of your template should be done before making it final. Optimize images, compress CSS and JavaScript files, and think of lazy-loading images to decrease page loading times. Fast-loading templates improve the user experience and SEO rankings.

Save and Share Your Template

Save Your Template Files

After you have finished your design, save all the required files, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images. Make a well-structured folder system, to make it easy to handle and update your template.

Share or Sell Your Template

In case you have designed a template to be used by people, you can post it to such platforms as GitHub or sell it on such marketplaces as ThemeForest or TemplateMonster. You can also provide it as a free resource to display your designing abilities.

 Bill Yeager, Co-Owner of High Point SEO & Marketing in CT, is a leading SEO specialist, Amazon international best-selling author of the book Unleash Your Internal Drive, Facebook public figure, a marketing genius, and an authority in the digital space. He has been personally coached by Tony Robbins, a fire walker and a student of Dan Kennedy, Founder of Magnetic Marketing. Bill has been on several popular podcasts and the news including Sharkpreneur with Kevin Harrington, FOX, NBC, and ABC by way of his Secret Sauce marketing strategies. Bill enjoys fitness, cars, and spending time with his family when not at work.