Rumor has it you’re building a new website. That’s so exciting! You’ve likely already started imagining the finished product. How do your logo and brand colors look? Is it easier to use than your old site? Do you feel proud when you share the link with your customers and friends? 

Having answers to these questions may be the best part of a website build, but in reality, getting to the moment where you ask them requires a lot of work and decision-making. And it all starts with creating and reviewing a site wireframe. 

You aren’t alone if you don’t know what a website wireframe is or what to look for when evaluating one. To ensure you end up with a website that serves your customers and helps your business grow, we put together a quick look into why wireframing matters and what to expect from your team when approving one. 

What Is a Wireframe? 

No matter your business or industry, websites are digital marketing and customer service tools. With a great website design, your business can:

1. Gain credibility 
2. Increase brand recognition
3. Create new leads 
4. Improve customer service
5. Build a community

But before you can start enjoying the fruits of your labor (or the dollars you spent on your design teams’ labor), you need to create a wireframe. So, what is a website wireframe? And why do you need to care about yours?

Website Wireframes Lay a Foundation

Imagine you’re building a house. You might begin by looking in magazines or online and thinking about what color you want for your kitchen or which modular sofa will be most comfortable. But buying cans of paint or ordering a couch are not the first steps you need to take. Instead, you have to start with a blueprint. 

How big should your house be, and how many rooms do you need? Which rooms are the most important for your day-to-day life? How should one area flow into another? Answering these questions is critical for creating a foundation for a home you’ll love.  

Similarly, creating a website wireframe as a blueprint is essential for building a site you love. Whether for a new build or because you have reasons for a website redesign, wireframes consider big-picture aspects like main navigation and usability features and lay everything out so you can see how the site will function. They map out the menu and various page layouts while highlighting the actions you want customers to take.

Though wireframes intentionally exclude many of the finishing touches of a site, their simplicity helps clarify the overall site structure to ensure an ideal user flow. 

As a map of the eventual site, most website wireframes omit brand colors, detailed copy, and specific imagery. Because these visual aspects and design elements can be distracting, they are left out until later stages. 

In their place, you will see grayscale coloring, Lorem ipsum text, and empty boxes for photos. This is to keep your attention on the functionality of the site and how users will interact with it. The wireframe’s simplicity can help you clarify the site’s primary goals to maximize conversions and grow your business. 

Remember:  When you receive the initial interaction of your website wireframe, it will not have visual elements like colors, images, or copy. As an early-stage step in designing and building your new site, it serves as a blueprint for the eventual build. This can cause some confusion or even disappointment if you’re expecting a complete website mockup, so it’s critical to remember the intention of the wireframe. When looking at a wireframe, you should expect to see your website’s general layout, including its menu navigation, call-to-action buttons, internal links, general page content and structure, and footer.  Fellow web developers: When evaluating a wireframe you’ve built for a client, put yourself in your customers’ shoes and see if the placement of the key elements makes sense. Does your journey through the site and each page feel easy and intuitive? Are you naturally led to take specific actions? Can you quickly find the information you came to the site for?

The Benefits of Wireframing

Wireframes are integral to getting a website that will meet your company’s needs and customers’ expectations. The main benefits of a wireframe for your website are as follows:

• They highlight functionality and UX: Wireframes emphasize functionality and user experience (UX). Focusing on these aspects rather than visual design makes it easier to see how intuitively your customers will funnel into conversion opportunities. 
• They increase creativity: Because wireframes are easier to amend than final designs, they allow you to iterate on various layout and user flow options to capitalize on the advantages of custom website design. Making changes to wireframes is cheaper and faster than amending late-stage deliverables since wireframes are simple and do not involve complicated design or coding. 
• They improve communication: Not only do wireframes help you see how you want your site to work—they also serve as communication tools for visual designers, developers, and writers. They help ensure team members and clients are on the same page with the site’s goals — whether to make a purchase, schedule a consultation, sign up for a newsletter, or attend an event. 

What to Expect in the Website Wireframe Process

Even though you haven’t seen your wireframe yet, it’s important to know what to expect in the website wireframe process. This will help you evaluate your wireframe and provide the feedback your design team needs to build you an effective site.

1. Initial Kick-off Meeting

Before your website design team begins work on your new site, your project manager will hold a kick-off call with you. They’ll provide you with questions and topics to consider, and you should come prepared to discuss your expectations and general ideas. Your web company will use this information and additional research to create the initial wireframe and sitemap.

2. Wireframe Review

At your next meeting, you will review your wireframe. Remember, this isn’t a mockup of the visual design of your site — it’s an exercise in evaluating user experience. Don’t worry if you aren’t dazzled by aesthetics or can’t see a direct representation of your finished site’s appearance. Expect a simplified version of your site, with main navigation and a few examples of various web pages. There will be spaces for headlines, images, buttons, internal links, and the footer. If anything other than placeholder text is used, it will be minimal and used only to show the general purpose and amount of SEO copywriting needed.

3. Feedback Phase

You’ll be asked to spend time with your wireframe and provide feedback. Does the flow make sense and feel intuitive? Do you know what action to take on each page or within various sections? Can you find the information you’re looking for? Is the overall structure clear and logical? 

Any changes you request can easily be made during the wireframing phase. Once you approve the concept, changes are still possible but become more difficult and time-consuming. 

4. Finalized Wireframe Is Passed Off to the Design Team

Now the real fun starts! Once all feedback is applied and you approve the wireframe, it is passed off to the design team to bring it to life with custom design elements that fit your company’s brand and entice customers to follow your sales funnel.

Why a Website Wireframe Is Worth It

By taking time to get your website wireframe right, you’ll help ensure you have an effective and high-performing site. A well-designed and intentionally built site can increase brand awareness, improve the customer experience, and lead to more conversions, helping you grow your business.

To get started designing your wireframe and building your site, drop us a line and get a quote.