Whether you are building a website from scratch or looking to redesign an existing one, the mockups play a crucial role. Many webmasters and businesses keep their focus on the features and functionalities of the website, but the design of the site is also very important and needs attention for success.

It is because whenever someone lands on your site, the first thing that is visible is the website design. Features, functionalities, services, etc. come later. If the design of the website or the webpage is appealing, the visitor will get attracted and browse the purpose of his visit more efficiently and effectively. Thus, it is of significant value to create mockups for all the website designs.

What is mockup?

A mockup for the website or webpages is supposed to provide a representation of the design layout, colors, font styles, icons, visuals for user navigation, product outlook, etc. The properties of the web design mockup depend on the elements to be included in the design.

What’s the purpose of website mockup?

There are several benefits of a mockup design. The main purposes for businesses and webmasters include:

• Find and fix issues at initial stage

  The design imagined before creating it may look completely different when created. It’s because the downsides of a project become known only when things are implemented. Having a mockup in place allows designers to find the issues that may arise at final stage.

• Offer multiple options to clients

  The expectations and imagination of the designers and clients do not sync most of the times. By creating a number of different design mockups, the designers can show multiple options to clients and then work on the design chosen by client.

• Convert leads into clients

  Even the experienced designers sometimes can’t attract the visitors and convert them into clients. The mockups allow designers to show the people what they can do and show them exactly what they can design.

How to create website mockups?

In this article, we will focus on the best ways to create a website design mockup. Please note that the final mockup design of any project depends on the creativity, design style and preferences of the designers.

1. Have a plan

Before working on the mockup, you should ask yourself a number of questions related to the project. These questions can include:

• What is the purpose of the project?
• What are the essential features?
• What are the services and products?
• Who are the end users/consumers?
• What kind of content will be there on the site?

Find the answers to all these questions. This will help you know exactly what you need to design. If it’s a client project, then get in touch with them to know these things comprehensively. At the end of the day, you will have the entire idea of the project, so that you can plan your designs accordingly.

2. Decide things

Having a plan will also help your developers to work strategically when they come into the action. Moreover, this well-curated plan can reduce the overall cost of the project. So, once you are done with the plan, it is time to decide on a few things, such as- will the design be responsive or flat, what will be the look on mobile devices, which content or features are not to be shown on mobiles, etc.

These things have to be decided right away so that nothing goes complicated when the time of execution comes. You have to also decide the type of fonts and colors on the basis of the sector of the website, audience, etc. Some standard rules of UI/UX designs are also needed to be taken care of whether it is a business website or a blog setup.

3. Work on basic elements

The basic elements of a mockup design should include the style, logo, design structure, design layout, call to action (CTA) elements.

Style- Stick to the planned style and don’t try to use multiple color elements or mix things up.

Logo- You should ensure that whenever someone lands on your site, the logo should capture his first glance. It all comes down to placing it perfectly and using the right size.

Structure- The structure of the website should be such that content on it can look loud yet simple. Users should find it easier to consume the content.

CTA elements-If the visitors aren’t clicking on any button or not taking any action on the website, the purpose of having the website remains unfulfilled. Hence, the CTAs play one of the most important roles for businesses. The buttons for making a purchase, subscribing, or filling a contact form should be outstanding. Visitors should feel like acting on them.

Layout- On the basis of the website and content, select the right layout and patterns, such as Z-pattern, F-pattern, etc. Use these layout options perfectly to place and use rest of the elements.

4. Avoid these pitfalls

While creating the mockup, avoid these common mistakes strictly:

Wrong use of colors- The color scheme should be consistent across the site. Also choose only the shades of same color if required.

Too much info- Keep things readable and visible. Including too much content and other details will make things boring. The lesser, the better.

Unreadable content- while deciding background colors, also think of the text color. It is because the wrong combination of background color and text color can ruin the overall design. Websites with poor readability have high bounce rates even if you have chosen reliable web hosting to load your site faster.

Responsiveness- Make sure that your design can work well across all screen sizes- smartphones, desktops, and tablets.

Wrapping up:

Realize the importance of creating a website mockup to make the design a successful one. Create a plan, decide what exactly you want in the design, work on the elements and avoid the common mistakes to create the mockup that your clients love.

You can also use tools like Photoshop, Moqups, Illustrator, and InVision for better mockup designs.

If you have more tips to add, let us know via the comments below.