Best Web Design Software: Top 8 Tools for Web Designers

Whether you're a new web designer or an experienced professional, here are the top web design tools to add to your web design kit.

Best Web Design Software: Top 8 Tools for Web Designers
Portrait for Adam KissBy Adam Kiss  |  Updated January 24, 2024

Whether you’re building websites, mobile applications, or social media assets, good design is essential for attracting potential customers, enhancing the user experience (UX), and leaving a positive first impression.

These days, there’s a wide range of web design tools, programs, and software to assist you in creating effective wireframes, realistic prototypes, and eye-catching websites. Whether you’re a web designer just starting or an experienced professional eager to explore new software, here are the top web design tools to try. 

Which Web Design Tool is Right for You?

Choosing the perfect web design tool can be a challenging task. When selecting which software best meets your needs, keeping your end goal in mind is essential. Here are some key points to keep in mind:

Ease of Use

Is the program easy to use? Assess the program’s level of expertise, whether it suits your needs, and consider taking additional training or following tutorials to make the most of it.

Documentation

Does the program offer comprehensive documentation to help you learn the ropes? There is no software documentation architecture standard, so carefully examine whether the architectural system is sufficiently described.

Tool Complexity 

Consider the complexity of the design you want to create and which tool will help you best achieve this. While some programs may seem straightforward to use, they may lack the capacity to produce more complicated designs. 

Collaborative Features

Collaboration is essential for web designers that work in a team. Features like shared team libraries and live co-editing can facilitate smooth communication and cooperation during the design process. In the age of offshoring, companies quite often choose to create their own offshore development center in one of the international IT hubs. Therefore, it’s important to sustain the most effective interaction practices.

Functionality

Find out what devices and operating systems the design tool supports – this is an essential consideration for design teams, as different web designers may use different device types. 

Cost

Determine whether the design tool you want is within your budget. Take note of its pricing structure; some web design tools require a one-time purchase, whereas others require a monthly or yearly subscription.

Top 8 Tools for Web Designers

  1. Adobe Photoshop
  2. Sketch
  3. Figma
  4. Adobe Illustrator
  5. Envato Elements
  6. Webflow
  7. Bootstrap
  8. Heatmap tools

1. Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular commercial graphic design programs and is an ideal tool for editing photos and creating website graphics.

It has many options, effects, and editing techniques, including spot healing, dodge or burn, and frequency separation. Users of all plans automatically gain access to many additional features, including Behance, the Adobe Help Center, the Support Community, and the Adobe Exchange marketplace for paid or free extensions and plugins. The Creative Cloud Libraries can also be helpful for simple asset management and collaborative working.

Adobe Photoshop can be a handy tool for web designers. It can assist with the following:

  • Designing visual elements: including logos, icons, buttons, and backgrounds. It provides a range of tools and features that make creating high-quality graphics and images for web design easy.
  • Image optimization: When designing for the web, it’s important to optimize images to ensure they load quickly and don’t slow your website. Photoshop has tools for image optimization, such as the Save for Web feature, which allows you to save images in the best possible format for the web.
  • Website layout: Photoshop can be used to create wireframes and mockups of a website, which can help you plan the layout and design of the site. Creating a visual representation of the site allows you to make adjustments and changes before starting the coding process.
  • Color scheme and typography: When using Photoshop, you can experiment with different color schemes and typography options for your website. You can use the built-in color picker and typography tools to test various combinations and find the best ones for your site.
  • Photo editing: Photoshop is an excellent tool for editing photos and images, which can be essential to web design. You can create a more polished and professional-looking website using Photoshop to enhance and adjust images.

Overall, Adobe Photoshop is a versatile and powerful tool that can be a valuable asset to any web designer.

2. Sketch

Sketch is a popular design tool that has gained a lot of traction in the web design community. It’s an all-in-one platform for digital design, offering collaborative design tools, prototyping, and developer handoff.

Let’s see why Sketch is a good tool for web designers:

  • User Interface: Sketch has a clean and intuitive user interface that makes it easy to use. The toolbars and menus are logically organized, and the app’s overall design is visually pleasing.
  • Vector Editing: Sketch is a vector-based tool to create high-quality graphics and designs that can be scaled up or down without losing quality. This is especially important for web design, as websites must be responsive and work on various devices.
  • Responsive Design: Sketch has various features that make it easy to create responsive website designs. Its built-in grid system allows you to create layouts for different screen sizes, making designing for mobile devices and other small screens easier.
  • Plugins and Integrations: Sketch has a large community of developers who have created plugins and integrations to extend the tool’s functionality. These plugins are resourceful for automating repetitive tasks, adding new features, or integrating with other tools.
  • Collaboration: Sketch makes collaborating with other designers on a project easy. You can share designs with team members, comment and annotate, and even simultaneously work on the same file.

3. Figma

People use Figma, a “freemium” web-based design tool for wireframing, prototyping, and creating user interfaces and website experiences.

Its collaborative features, which enable real-time collaboration and simultaneous editing by numerous users on the same project, are its strongest suit. 

the interface of Figma - a web-based design tool

Additionally, it makes communication between various teams more straightforward. It effortlessly integrates with its online whiteboard, enabling users to collaborate on idea generation using diagrams and sticky notes.

4. Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based graphic design program for both Windows and Mac OS used for producing logos, icons, illustrations, banners, and design packaging. This software is also a component of the Adobe Creative Cloud. 

Examples of images which can be created with Adobe Illustrator

Its primary advantage is that it makes use of a vector-based editing system. Unlike Photoshop, Illustrator uses mathematical formulas rather than pixels to create its images, which consist of points, lines, and curves. This enables continuous scaling, allowing you to increase the size of the graphic without lowering the quality.

5. Envato Elements

Envato Elements is a subscription service for designers to help them bring their creative projects to life. It offers plenty of resources and assets, such as video templates, fonts, graphic and social media templates, stock videos, and more. Once subscribed, you can access unlimited downloads and resources for your design projects.

Envato Elements

6. Bootstrap

Bootstrap, a framework for building websites with CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, is next on our list of must-have web design tools. Bootstrap is open-source, free, and comes with a ton of templates to assist you in designing your website.

If you wish to start with a template, you can browse the library of Bootstrap-based templates that you can modify to get the desired look. Moreover, it’s helpful as a WordPress custom site builder. The platform is also free and essential for UX development or optimization

7. Webflow

Webflow is a robust web design and development platform allowing you to create responsive websites without writing code.

Webflow is a cloud-based website builder and CMS (Content Management System) that allows you to design and develop professional websites without needing to write any code. Founded in 2013, it has since gained popularity among web designers and developers. 

With Webflow, you can create responsive and interactive websites using its drag-and-drop interface and built-in design tools. It’s popular for businesses, agencies, and freelancers who want to create custom websites quickly and efficiently.

Here are some of its key features:

  • Drag-and-drop interface: Webflow has a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to create complex layouts and designs. You can easily add elements like text, images, videos, and forms to your website using the interface.
  • Responsive design: Webflow allows you to create responsive websites that adapt to different screen sizes and devices. You can create custom layouts for different screen sizes and preview your design in real-time.
  • Animations and interactions: Webflow allows you to add animations and interactions to your website without writing code. You can add hover effects, scrolling effects, and other interactive elements to your website using the built-in animation tools.
  • CMS functionality: Webflow has built-in CMS functionality that allows you to manage your website’s content easily. You can create custom content types, add fields, and manage your content using the interface.
  • Hosting and publishing: Webflow provides hosting and publishing services for your website. You can publish your website to a custom domain or a Webflow subdomain.
  • No coding required: With Webflow development, you can create professional-looking websites without writing any code. This can save you a lot of time and effort and allow you to focus on the design and development of your website.
  • Design tools: Webflow has a range of design tools that make it easy to create complex layouts and designs. You can add animations, interactions, and other custom elements to your website without code.

8. Heatmap Tools

Heatmap tools are analytical tools for assessing a website’s success. It enables you to keep track of the number of visits to each subpage and the efficiency of your buttons.

Finally, it gives you a thorough understanding of how users engage with your website. Because of this, you may use it for UX optimization.

There are several sorts of heatmaps you can use:

  • Click heatmap
  • Segment heatmap
  • Mouse tracking heatmap
  • Geo heatmap
  • Scroll heatmap

A click heatmap and scroll heatmap will be essential for most web designers. This application keeps track of how frequently users click each button. Warm colors highlight areas with many clicks, whereas cold colors highlight areas with fewer clicks.

With this knowledge, you can determine which CTAs and button designs work best for your website. If you want to improve the usability of your website, you must know this information.

For example, blue buttons and the CTA wording “Subscribe” have proven to be the most effective, according to this click heatmap study. Perform your own analysis of what works and take advantage of these components to significantly boost conversion rates and UX optimization.

Your website will be considerably more effective if you use CTAs and language that heat maps demonstrate to be effective. Purchasing a product or subscribing to a newsletter will be quick and easy for your visitors, which could lower your bounce rate. 

Scroll heatmaps determine the typical reading duration of articles or web pages. You can use this data to decide where to put critical information and link to products or other pages. 

With this knowledge, your blog posts will become much more valuable to your readers, improving the user experience.

Is Your Design User-friendly? Analyze It!

To guarantee that websites are effective and straightforward for the user, here are some design techniques to determine whether your website is user-friendly. Methods such as A/B tests and usability tests can show how your design works in real life.

A/B Tests

A/B testing allows you to try different iterations of pages to find out which works best. It’s a great way to know if your website is user-friendly. 

You can design pages with various color schemes, copywriting styles, and calls to action and monitor the outcomes. Analytics will help determine which site users find simpler to navigate.

You should periodically repeat the process of A/B testing to continue optimizing the user experience. This will enable you to create landing pages that are simple to use and increase conversions.

Usability Tests

User testing determines how user-friendly your website is. In addition to user experience, you might find additional unanticipated problems in your design. It’s the best choice for both the auditing process and product creation.

You can perform usability tests before a website is published to build a solid foundation for your users immediately. Or, you can use it on a website that’s already live to make adjustments and increase conversion rates.

Here are some key things to keep in mind:

  • In-person and online testing
  • Selecting a moderated or unmoderated strategy
  • Defining a clear objective
  • Identifying your target market
  • Creating a specific scenario so the consumer is aware of what to do 
  • Examining the outcomes
  • Use heatmap tools

Usability testing tools are a great way to streamline the testing process by centralizing all the necessary data.

Compatibility

Is your design compatible with HTML, CSS, or Javascript? It’s vital to ensure that any developer can work with your design. We recommend using W3Schools to track code compatibility. 

Track Usage Process

Your website software will determine its data-tracking capabilities. However, there are several fundamental kinds of data to track, such as:

  • User experience and behavior: With web analytics software, you can track user clicks, mouse movements, scroll depth, navigational patterns, session recording, and site performance.
  • Content effectiveness: Measure the success of your content marketing efforts by monitoring how people interact with your blog posts, socials, and other channels. It will also measure the number of views, shares, and bounces. 

Use chats, web surveys, and A/B testing to keep tabs on user activity. If you want to assess how users react to a new version of your website design before making any changes, A/B testing will be beneficial. You can track this data using heatmap tools (Capturly or Hotjar), Google Optimize, or Plerdy.

To Wrap Up 

These are some of the top web design tools for web designers and developers and the key factors to consider when choosing a web design tool. The ideal web design tool will ultimately rely on your unique requirements as a web designer or developer. Utilize the free trials and demo sessions provided to learn more about the features and functions of the program. Happy web designing!

This article was contributed by Capturly.com.

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