Best Web Design Software

What You Should Know About Web Design Software

Web design software helps users with little to no coding knowledge create dynamic websites. Many platforms have a preview feature that is either able to be edited directly or immediately updates as code is written. Platforms often have features to help with coding, such as auto-closing HTML, and provide a library of code snippets to pull from. Customizable templates and wireframes also provide jumping off points for beginners.

The ability to import images and text and size them dynamically for multiple screen sizes is a large part of web design software. These tools focus on creating beautiful and reactive websites, so the design aspects are the most robust. Web design software will also publish your site to the domain of your choosing and allow you to edit it as needed.

Key Benefits of Web Design Software

• Create, update, and post websites
• Use templates to easily create web pages or widgets
• Test dynamic designs for different screen sizes
• Use libraries of code and fonts to create web pages

Why Use Web Design Software?

Web design software is one of the main ways web designers create, edit, and upload dynamic, visually engaging websites. Tools such as templates and element libraries can help speed up the web design process, but some coding knowledge is still required.

Web Design One-Stop Shop — ​Creating a website can be a significant undertaking, but the best web design software will make it seem easy. With so many different handheld devices available for surfing the web, websites need to be dynamic and flexible, which can be difficult to build. Web design software can provide a variety of templates and web frameworks that provide a jumping off point, eliminating some of the back-end work.

The best website design software solutions are one-stop shops that provide tools to engineer, construct, and update websites. While this will inevitably involve some coding, unlike website builders which require no coding knowledge, the primary advantage of these platforms is how easy they are to learn. With features such as responsive web design, web developers can test their code as it’s being composed, which is far more efficient than exporting it. Flexible designs are a must in this day and age, so robust tools are key. Luckily, the customized product often yields better-looking and more unique websites.

Making Web Design Easy — Many web designers are freelancers, which necessitates the ability to create websites under a deadline. With increased demand for businesses to have a web presence, that can mean a lot of work under a time crunch. The best web design software will render website creation quickly and easily.

Some software tools provide tutorials to help designers get the most out of their product, while others may have extensive online resources. Features that keep code organized and provide coding shortcuts can save web designers time and headaches. The more time spent on design and the less time spent on testing and debugging, the better the website.

Small-Business Needs — A web presence is crucial for small businesses in this day and age, so a well-designed website is one of the keys to success. Hiring and working with an experienced web designer can be a long and expensive process, so some small businesses may want to create their own website. Web design software can give a small business owner complete control over their website, which is useful when quick changes need to be made. However, while web design software will publish your website, most will not provide hosting. So you will need to secure hosting before uploading your company’s website to the internet.

Since many web design platforms are intended for users with little to no coding or design experience, small-business owners can quickly and easily create a website using premade templates or from scratch. The robust design tools available can create something recognizable and on brand, so business owners can feel confident that their website aligns with their marketing strategy. Also, since people are surfing the web on all kinds of mobile devices, web design software can automatically make your content responsive, so it will look great on any size screen.

When choosing a web design platform, ensure that it caters to your coding skill level and can incorporate all the features that you would like on your website. For example, you may want an e-commerce page to receive orders and payments or an interactive calendar to book appointments. Some web design software has widgets or templates for these components that you can place on a web page and customize to your needs without requiring any additional help. Small business owners are busy, so creating a website should be quick and easy and deliver a product that looks great and is easy to use.

Other reasons to use web design software:

• Storing and organizing files
• Improving interactivity of websites
• Streamlining onboarding

Who Uses Web Design Software?

Free-form web design and development tools are often targeted toward more experienced professionals. For the rest of those in need of a website for various purposes, they typically use website builders and prebuilt CMS tools. Pure web design tools require that users have at least a working knowledge of HTML and CSS, with additional competencies in web content management and graphic design (if the occupation requires it).

Web Designer — Web designer is a fairly broad term used to describe individuals involved with front-end design. These people will be more involved with the structural organization of website content and creating elements, planning website navigation, and visualising the ideal deliverable for front-facing web pages. Many web designers spend most of their time creating mock-ups or designing preliminary outlines for web pages while web developers do the actual coding.

Web Developer — Web developers typically work in tandem with design teams to bring their ideas to life. For example, they may be handed the mockup or wireframe and be asked to write the actual HTML and CSS for the website. These individuals will likely have more hands-on coding experience than developers, typically specializing in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and many will have additional experience with scripting and back-end coding languages.

UI/UX Professionals — User interface and user experience professionals are involved in the building of workflows and mapping of web pages. These web professionals are responsible for optimizing content, elements, and navigational processes to simplify the user’s journey while visiting a website. These individuals often use web design tools to design mock-ups and create actual front-end-ready web pages.

E-Commerce Professional — An e-commerce website can be set up by both web design professionals and users without developing experience. Many small sites will be built using website builders for quick, templated development. But companies looking for more custom solutions will require an individual with web design and/or development experience to build components from scratch.

Web Design Software Features

Templates — Provides ready-made templates for simplified website creation.

Element Libraries — Provides prebuilt website components such as tables, graphs, or widgets.

Drag-and-Drop — Allows users to drag and drop items and content to customize their site's look.

Content Management — Manages content such as blogs, marketing tools, newsletters, etc.

Syntax Highlighting — Visually parses large amounts of code to highlight specific items or item types to denote them with a different color, background, or font.

Autocompletion — Autocompletes common functions or expressions to save the time of manually typing frequently used terms.

Collaborative Editing — Allows multiple developers to work on the same file simultaneously while on different computers.

Language Support — Supports programming languages such as Java, C, or Python. Support for front-end languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for responsive website design.

Extensibility — Provides the ability to extend the platform to include additional features and functionalities.

Cross-Platform Support — Allows usage and access across a range of operating systems and device types.

Plugins and Integrations — Allows for additional features and functionalities in the form of prepackaged integrations and plugins.

Potential Issues with Web Design Software

Experience and Skill Set — Many web design platforms are created for designers with little to no coding knowledge. If you have a lot of coding knowledge and would like to utilize it, there are web design programs that can accommodate you. However, if you would like a tool that’s more beginner-friendly, there are many options available. Investigating the features offered by each tool will let you find the right software for you.

Budget — Web design software comes in at a variety of price points, which is often a designer’s primary concern. However, more robust design features will require a more substantial investment. Weigh your needs against the amount you are willing to spend to find the right tool.

Flexibility — Since there are a variety of devices available with access to the internet, there are also a variety of screen sizes. Many web design platforms make it easy to create dynamic designs that you can test within the program itself. The more flexible the platform, the more you will be able to create with the software.

Toolset — Some web design software contains libraries of templates, fonts, and other commonly used elements. If you’re unfamiliar with creating something like an online store or appointment-scheduling widget, these templates will be very helpful. The more tools available, the easier it will be to quickly and easily make a dynamic website.

Ease of Use — Web design software may contain a variety of features that can make creating websites quicker and easier for designers. Simple UI, real-time preview tools and self-closing code are examples of helpful features for web designers. If you’re unfamiliar with web design tools, these kinds of features may be essential for you.

Software and Services Related to Web Design Software

Web design software is often conflated with other technologies used within web development processes. These categories either serve similar functionality or are used in tandem with web design tools to produce fully functional websites.

Website Builder — Web design software is a more robust design tool than website builders, because there is generally more ability for customization. Website builders are often in-browser and directly integrated with the host. They almost exclusively use templates. Web design software provides the option to use templates but will also let you create websites from scratch for a host of your choosing.

Wireframing Software — Wireframing tools are typically used in the preliminary organization of web pages. These tools allow users to quickly mock up potential web pages and give guidance to designers and developers involved in building the pages. These tools typically don’t require extensive HTML or CSS knowledge and will not provide the features necessary to develop fully functional web pages or websites.

Web Content Management Software — Web content management solutions are tools that host and organize elements that appear on websites such as text, audio, images, and other digital content. Many content management systems also provide web hosting services, but do not provide the same kind of web development environment present in traditional web design tools.

Graphic Design Software — Graphic design tools are often used by web designers and developers but serve a very different purpose than web design software. These tools can be used to create vector graphics, mock-ups, and other kinds of digital content. That content may be published on a website, but those tools typically don’t provide extensive features for designing web pages.

WYSIWYG Editors — WYSIWYG is a common acronym for "what you see is what you get." These tools provide a drag-and-drop interface for creating applications, web pages, and other digital media. They are more similar to website builders than they are to web design software. While many can be used to build web pages, most of them do not have fully fledged features for web development.