7 Secrets to Our Web Design/Development Process: How We Make Websites

Websites are an important part of any business, big or small. They are often the first impression that a customer has of your company. That is why it is so important to have a website that looks great and easy to use. In this blog post, we will be discussing the 7 secrets to our web design/development process. Often time, website development/design can be tedious and overwhelming. Don't fear, we are here to help!

Identify Goals:

The first step in any web design/development process is to identify the goals of the website. What do you want your website to accomplish? What type of user experience do you want to create for your visitors? Once you have identified these goals, it will be much easier to create a design that meets them.

The designer/developer must as questions such as:

• Who is the target audience?
• What are the goals of the website?
• What type of design is needed (corporate, personal, e-commerce)?
• How much content needs to be created?
• What features or functions are needed on the website?

There are certainly a plethora more questions that can be asked however these are a great starting point for any project. Based on the answers to these questions, a design and development plan can be created that will help meet the identified goals. Creating clear goals will help avoid a world of issues further down the line.

Define the Scope:

Once the goals of the website have been identified, it is important to define the scope of the project. What will be included in the project and what will be left out? This is an important question to answer as it will help set expectations for both the client and designer/developer.

In order to define the scope, the designer/developer will need to know about the business and what they are hoping to achieve with their website. Hence, asking about their goals is the first step. This information will help shape the project and determine what is feasible within the set budget and time frame.

Mapping out the scope of the project is also important for establishing a timeline and milestones. Having a set timeline will help keep both the client and designer/developer on track and avoid any missed deadlines.

Your contract/agreement should include the scope as his document will outline the expectations of both parties, as well as the terms and conditions.

Wireframe:

Once the goals and scope of the project have been defined, the next step is to create a wireframe. A wireframe is a simple drawing that helps visualize how the website will look and function. This is an important step as it will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page before any coding begins.

The designer/developer will usually create the wireframe and then send it to the client for feedback. This is an iterative process and will likely go through a few rounds of changes before everyone is happy. The wireframe helps to avoid any misunderstandings or surprises down the line.

Content Collection/Creation:

The next step in our web design/development process is to collect all of the content that will be needed for the website. This can include text, images, and videos. It is important to gather all of this content upfront as it will help define the layout and design of the website.

Content can be gathered in many ways. Here are a few ideas:

• Interview the client and ask them to provide any images or text they want on the website
• Search for royalty-free images or videos online. Not our favorite way but definitely an option for clients who don't have a photographer.
• Have a content writer/creator create the content for the website

The goal is to have all of the content ready before beginning to design the website.

Typically we ask all of our clients to place all the content on a cloud such as Google Drive or, for larger projects we ask our clients to place all the content on our personal servers for easier access for our team.

Once all of the content has been collected, it can be organized and sorted into a layout that makes sense.

Develop:

Ah yes, our favorite part! After all of the planning and designing is done, it's time to start coding! The developer will take all of the content and design and turn it into a functioning website. This process can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the complexity of the website.

During this process,  the developer will be working closely with the designer to make sure that everything is looking as it should. The developer will also be making sure that all of the functionality is in place and works as it should.

Everything from the front-end design to the back-end coding is taken into consideration during this phase.

Test, test, test:

Once the website is coded, it is time to test it! This is an important step as it ensures that the website is working properly and looks how it should. The developer will test the website on different browsers and devices to make sure that everything looks good

As our founder and owner Nathan Felizzola always puts it:

We understand that the perfect user interface should look good and work even better.

That is why we make sure that our sites don't only look good and feel good but also function as intended.

Deploy:

Last but certainly not least, we deploy!  This is the moment when the website goes live and is available to the world. It is an exciting time for both the client and our team!

During deployment, the developer will take the website and put it on a server so that it is live to the public.

Once everything is finalized and looks good, we celebrate! The website is now online and ready for business!

Conclusion:

We hope you have found this blog post helpful. If you have any questions or would like more information, please don't hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to help!