.Before you start web development, you need to understand why you want to create a website: are you looking for new customers in your area or do you simply want to create a showcase site for your business on the web? Analyzing the objectives before starting to develop is essential in order not to underestimate the problems that could arise over time and as the work proceeds.
The potential customers we want to access the website can be divided between those who know the business and those who have never heard of it. For the former, theoretically, the mere creation of a website optimized to be indexed by search engines would be enough. For others, who do not know the company, a careful and in-depth web marketing strategy will be necessary. Without these premises, a website will have no real function.
#1. Understanding customer needs
It is often incorrectly assumed that the web development process begins with design and development.The fact is that these phases occur after other steps. The first step (often ignored) is understanding the customer’s needs.
At this stage of creating a site, it is very important to understand why and for whom you are developing a web resource. Without correctly set goals and objectives, you will not be able to create the necessary site or you will be able to, but even in the process of creation, you will understand that you will not get what you wanted.
You need to work closely with the customer (or think if the customer is you) in order to understand what exactly the client expects from his future site. It is also not unimportant to conduct research on competitors of your subject and draw up a diagram: what functionality they provide to users, and what design and structure they have.
Listen and understand the customer’s needs before web development
Identifying and understanding exactly the customer’s needs helps to develop the perfect solution to their needs. When customers have a technical background, it is much easier to understand their needs and the techniques to adopt for their projects. However, when customers are completely unaware of what we are going to do, we will have to ask many questions so that we have in mind what will serve them best.
As a rule, TOR can be made by both the customer and the contractor. But the terms of reference are discussed and agreed upon, of course, by both parties because the customer cannot know some things, but the performer cannot know some things. Drawing up the correct TOR is simply a necessary step in the stages of creating a site, if something is missed in the task, for example, an additional module, then the contractor may refuse to finalize (within this task).
#2. Thorough research
What do you want to get from our site? Reach a certain turnover? That customers buy our products? Increase room bookings in our hotel? This leads us to understand that it will not be enough to have 1000 visitors a day but that we will need 1000 visitors who can be useful for achieving our goal.
Every website is different from the others. So, in this phase, our goal will be to research and collect as much information as possible for the project.
Research stage in the website development process
An E-commerce, for example, that sells men’s clothing is very different from the site of a hotel or a mechanical workshop. Therefore, we will proceed with research and an in-depth analysis of the sector and of the competitors, the study of the objectives, and the focus of the target.
This is because, first of all, the goals that are going to be set must necessarily be measurable. You should have a time limit and, above all, be realistic. (I want to earn 1000000000 €uros a day by selling peanuts is an example of an unrealistic goal).
Also, Read – https://keyposting.com/7-reasons-why-you-should-invest-in-mobile-app/
#3. Planning
A solid plan supported by research and analysis is the right path to take to reach our destination. Important decisions are made at this stage such as sitemap formulation, wireframing, layout planning, UI/UX, and selection of the proper technology stack, etc.
One of the most important parts of the planning phase of website design and development is deciding on the sitemap. This represents the organizational structure of our website and how the different pages will be connected based on their hierarchy and importance. Studying the structure of the sitemap well will help our users navigate easily through the various sections of the site. Below you can find an example.
Sitemap planning during the process of web development
The wireframe, on the other hand, is a graphic draft, a sketch made on a sheet of paper with a pencil or using software to create the skeletons of your projects. The wireframe represents the idea of what you want to achieve on a graphic/structural level.
It is usually in black and white because, in this phase, the focus is on the elements that will characterize your site, such as the position of the logo, that of the menu, and the basic structure of sections, articles, categories, and images. An example image of a wireframe created during the planning process of web development.
#4. Design
Once the wireframes and sitemaps are available and approved it will be time to design all the pages that we are going to use for web development. In this stage, the designers bring the approved wireframes to life with custom graphics, logos, colors, typography, animations, buttons, drop-down menus, and more based on the project’s needs.
Our site, therefore, begins to have its own tangible identity. Site design is critical to the user experience. The first impression that users have of a website is 94% related to the design. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that our website.
#5. Filling the site
Without text and photos, the site has a rather conditional value. The customer provides information and fills the site with text and pictures. contractor does it (depending on the agreements). If the customer does it on his own, he is provided with instructions for working with the CMS. It is best to give all materials for writing to a professional copywriter because this text will be read by customers.
#6. Layout
At this point, the purely technical work is done by the layout designer and programmer:
- “Understandable” code – the smaller and more efficient the code, the faster the site loads.
- Validity (correctness) – this will allow an outside specialist to easily deal with the code.
- Cross-browser layout (cross-browser) – convenient display of the site in different browsers (IE, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc.).
#7. Programming and stretching on CMS
The CMS is a content management system that includes an administration panel, which, in turn, has the function of managing the content on the site. Content through the admin panel is loaded very simply, like a Word document. The stretch includes defining the layout of the engine settings, in fact, the CSS itself, and the path to the engine modules in HTML.
As a result of these several stages of work, we will obtain a fully functional site, but without any content.
#8. Launching of The Website
The contractor transfers the project to hosting, the customer provides or buys a domain name (website address). Together with the contractor, the site is successfully available on the network. If the terms of reference stipulated any preliminary work on SEO promotion of sites. For example, adding a site to Yandex and Google webmasters, creating an HTML sitemap, setting metrics and analytics etc.
