Web Site Design and Development Process

There are numerous steps in the web site design and development process. From gathering initial information, to the creation of your web site, and finally to maintenance to keep your web site up to date and current.

Phase 1: Information Gathering

The first step in designing a successful web site is to gather information. Many things need to be taken into consideration when we design the look and feel of your site, so we first ask a lot of questions to help us understand your business and your needs in a web site.

Certain things to consider are:

Purpose: What is the purpose of the site? Do you want to provide information, promote a service, sell a product?

Goals: What do you hope to accomplish by building this web site? Two of the more common goals are either to make money or share information.

Target Audience: Is there a specific group of people that will help you reach your goals? It is helpful to picture the “ideal” person you want to visit your web site. Consider their age, sex or interests – this will help us determine the best design style for your site.

Content: What kind of information will the target audience be looking for on your site? Are they looking for specific information, a particular product or service?

Phase 2: Planning

Here we develop a rough draft that will show all the pages of your site – a list of all main topic areas of the site, as well as sub-topics (if applicable). This gives us a guide as to what content will be on the site, and is essential to developing a consistent, easy to understand navigational system. This is also the point where we decide what technologies should be implemented – interactive forms, etc.

Phase 3: Design Stage

We take a look at various WordPress Templates that we think will work best and then narrow it down to one and figure out ways we will customize it based on the information gathered. We then determine the look and feel of the site. Target audience is one of the key factors taken into consideration here. A site aimed at teenagers, for example, will look much different than one meant for a financial institution. We also incorporate elements such as the company logo or colors to help strengthen the identity of your company on the web site. We also look at how your site will not only look on a desktop computer but on other devices such as smart phones and tables.

We then show you a prototype of your website in several pdf documents which we can add our comments to explain certain areas and how the website will work. In this phase, communication is crucial to ensure that the final web site will match your needs and taste. We work together in this way, exchanging ideas, until we arrive at the final design for the site. This can be done over the phone or in person. The client is given 2 round revisions where changes can be made. The designer then supplies the client with updated pdf documents to view. After approval of the prototype, then web development can begin…

Phase 4: Development

This is where the web site itself is created. We take all of the individual graphic elements from the prototype and use them to create the functional web site. We also take your content and distribute it throughout the site, in the appropriate areas. This entire time, you will continue to be able to view your site with a link that we will provide you. We will notify you when the website is fully developed and we then invite your changes and comments.

Phase 5: Testing and Delivery

At this point, we attend to the final details and test your web site. We test things such as the complete functionality of forms or other scripts, we test for last minute compatibility issues (viewing differences between different web browsers), ensuring that the site is optimized to be viewed properly in the most recent browser versions.

Once we receive your final approval, it is time to deliver the site. We upload the files to your server – in most cases, this also involves installing and configuring WordPress, along with a core set of essential plugins to help enhance the site. Here we quickly test again to make sure that all files have been uploaded correctly, and that the site continues to be fully functional. This marks the official launch of your site, as it is now viewable to the public.

Phase 6: Maintenance

The development of your web site is not necessarily over, though. One way to bring repeat visitors to your site is to offer new content or products on a regular basis. If this interests you, we will be more than happy to continue working together with you to update the information on your web site. We offer maintenance on a hourly time basis.