The Website Development Process Explained
Are you looking to understand the website development process?
Today, websites remain both necessary and a dime-a-dozen. Most people browse different locations on the web, and the internet gives you broad access to a wide variety of people.
This makes the internet an exciting horizon, filled with opportunities for new businesses and entrepreneurs alike.
Websites come in a million different formats and designs. If you're like most people, you have a handful of websites you really admire. Their interfaces are both engaging and informative, and they communicate the brand's style and tone with ease.
When you create your own website, though, you might be stumped. How do all of these fantastic companies actually launch their beautiful sites into existence? How do they maintain them?
You're in luck. Below, we'll go into the steps to develop a website.
The website development process is about more than just having a functioning site, that is why we explain the importance of UI/UX.
Keep reading to learn more about how your favorite sites are made!
Steps to Develop a Website
Step 1: Brainstorming
Before anyone creates a website, they must sit down and brainstorm.
First, they should establish what they hope to convey with the website. Websites, at their core, are platforms for communication. People use them to share stories, sell goods or services, and even find community.
But do you know what every website has in common? They share something about the people running the website. They communicate a public image, also known as a brand, and give clients a certain impression.
So, before you do anything else with your website, first establish who you are as a person or a company. What image do you want to portray? What is the main feeling you want website visitors to get from your site? It can be anything from a professional demeanor to casual and friendly to hopeful and inspiring.
No matter what it is, jot it down, and use it as the basis and tone for your entire website.
Step 2: Identify the Scope
Next, developers look at the scope of the website.
This includes what pages and features the website requires in order to be able to fulfill its primary purpose.
For instance, if a website is for a retailer wishing to sell clothing online, it could feature pages that prominently display sales and new arrivals. It could also give customers information on how to find what they're looking for, contact the company, etc.
As the owner of the website, it's a good idea for you to identify which features you would like to have.
Step 3: Create a Sitemap and Wireframe
After developers identify the scope, they create a sitemap and wireframe.
Technically, website users will never see a sitemap. Yet, it remains an integral part of your website's creation.
How?
A sitemap essentially provides search engines with a list of every page of your website and some information about them. What do search engines do with this information?
Search engine algorithms crawl your website, trying to process and categorize the information on your website so it shows up in queries. Sitemaps guarantee that they get all of the pages on your website and provide them with the information they might not otherwise find.
A site's wireframe, on the other hand, presents the website owner and developer with a blueprint of the site's final product. It shows what will go where and how the different portions of the site will interact with each other.
Step 4: Create Content
At this point, people can start to create content for the website, even though it's not live yet.
Websites should have regularly-updated content. Usually, this takes the form of blog posting, in which people write articles related to the website's main topic.
Businesses can also start writing the web copy they want to portray on their different pages at this time.
No matter which content they write, it should be optimized to rank well in search engines. This process, known as search engine optimization or SEO, consists of various methods used to help websites climb to the top of search results. SEO can be used on any web page.
Step 5: Set the Tone
Now, it's time to explore the visual elements of a website.
This step establishes the site's overall tone. When trying to get an idea of this, many people create mood boards or inspiration collages. They then use those as a springboard for creating the look of the website.
Step 6: Testing
Before a website goes live, developers test it.
This involves going through every page and clinking on every link to make sure that everything looks good and is running well.
Often, people also let automated site crawlers explore the site and identify any problems.
Step 7: Launching
After all of this has been completed, the website is ready to go!
At this point, developers usually launch the website, and the owner can start posting content and tracking their analytics.
Step 8: Maintenance
People who run websites can't just launch them and let them go, however.
The internet is always changing and developing. All the time, companies develop updates to their browsers that make old websites not function properly.
Many internet users grow accustomed to how these new systems make things look. Think about how different the internet appeared even 10 years ago.
Because of this, sites will require constant maintenance and upkeep. Businesses must keep their websites up-to-date if they wish to appear appealing to clients for many years to come.
As such, maintenance is a crucial part of the website development process.
Need Help With Your Web Development?
Businesses need websites in order to gain and retain clients. Websites are also fantastic ways to communicate your own brand and message to your supporters!
Using these steps to develop a website, business owners and everyday people can create the website of their dreams.
Yet, sometimes, the website development process is best handled by a professional developer. If you need help with building your website, we can help. Our developers specialize in front end website development.
Contact us today to learn more!
