A wireframe of a website is also referred to as a screen blueprint, which makes up the very foundation of web design. Why do you need to create a wireframe? It is used to arrange elements, like textual data (titles, headings, the body of blog or article), videos, and images to create the best layout for your website. All of these website elements should seamlessly work together while looking functional and appealing to online users so you can achieve your website goals.

In this post, you'll learn how to create a wireframe for your website, which serves as your quick reference.

Decide on the Best Method

Wireframes focus on what the screen does far beyond the aesthetic appeal, as these are created for enhanced user experience. Creating a wireframe focuses on prioritizing information and website functions, creating rules for displaying information, and effects on how different scenarios will be shown on the screen.

When contemplating the wireframe creation process, you need to decide on the best method you should choose. Here are the different methods available:

• Draft: You can start creating wireframes drawn on a piece of paper or whiteboard. In that way, it is easy to make changes, which helps in early conversations with your team about your product or website.
• Paper-Prototypes: This method of creating wireframes allows you to test them with end-users at different stages of design. You'll be able to track details or progress to avoid design mistakes and save more money with changes instead of coding it straight away.
• Wireframe App or Software: Eventually, you can use free wireframe tools, which is a great way to begin off hand-drawing wireframes before the execution of more detailed versions.

Choose the Best Wireframing Tool

Free wireframe tools are available to help you create wireframes and prototypes. So, you can experiment with plenty of wireframes to choose the best one for your website.

Here are some of the best wireframing tools you might consider:

• InVision: With your site design's clickable mock-ups, you'll get feedback straight from your design team and users using this free tool.
• UXPin: It comes in different functionalities so you can build responsive clickable prototypes easily in your browser.
• Wireframe.cc: It's a great pen and online paper version that can help you create wireframes and prototypes conveniently.

Collaborate and Map Out User Flow

As mentioned, a wireframe is a visual aid for you to determine the best layout of your website page. It ensures that the questions of all users are answered when it comes to your purpose of creating such a website. Wireframes avoid unpredictable elements, like boxes or buttons in unexpected places.

So how many screens do you need to produce? What should comprise your information architecture? Good information architecture promotes user self-sufficiency, reduces or eliminates user frustration, and keeps visitors from leaving your site. It would mean more sales and benefits for your website and your business.

Here are some tips you need to keep in mind when creating wireframes:

• Treat your content as a living thing with attributes, lifecycles, and behaviors.
• Keeping the number of wireframe choices to a minimum is better than overwhelming your visitors.
• Always show a preview of relevant information so users can understand the type of information when they dig deeper. Display some examples of content when you're describing categories.
• Offer online users various classification schemes when browsing your site’s content.
• Collaborate with your design team and decide on the best places to put major website elements, like the search box, menu, and contact information. Navigation should be simple or user-friendly. Determine where to place the About Us, Contact Us, or Help and Contact Menu options.

Finalize Your Design

Once you have a great user flow with great collaboration and your screens are ready, it's time to add details so you can upgrade your wireframe to prototype-mode. So how do you add muscles or a body to your wireframe or website’s skeleton?

Here are some details you can include:

• Navigation bars.
• A search box on the top right of the screen.
• Instructional wording like calls-to-action or CTA buttons, such as “Listen to this interview” or “Click here” to get more podcast downloads, subscriptions, traffic, and sales.
• Social media icons.
• Sitemap.

Conclusion

When creating wireframes for your website, it's important to start from scratch. While you can use a pencil and paper or a whiteboard to make changes easier, wireframing tools are available to add more details. Collaboration and mapping out the user flow are important to create the best wireframes and prototypes for your website. Finally, don't forget to test your design and add more details as necessary to finalize your wireframe design.