The stage of discovering and researching determines how the subsequent actions will look like. It is applicable to any development process, also including web application development, software development, and other types of development. The most important task at this point is to get a clear understanding of your future website purposes, the main goals you wish to get, and the target audience you want to attract to your site. By gathering all the needed information, it is easier to develop the best strategy for further project management. As a result, you are able to define the scope of the project and outline vital details, such as features of your website, tasks to assign, timeline and scope of work, budget, etc.
At this stage of the website development cycle, the developer creates the data that allows a customer to judge how the entire website will look like.
Based on the information that was gathered together in the previous phase, the sitemap is designed
During the design phase, your site takes the shape. All the visual content, such as images, photos, and videos, is created at this stage. Once again, all the info that was gathered through the first phase is crucial. The customer and target audience must be kept in mind while you work on a design to make the user interface and user experience intuitive and easy to use.
Content writing and compiling usually overlaps with other stages of website creation, and its role can’t be underestimated. Now, it is necessary to put in writing the very essence you’d like to communicate to the target audience and add call-to-action. Content writing also involves the creation of catching headlines, proofreading, writing new blocks of text, etc., which takes time and effort. As a rule, the client undertakes to provide website content ready to migrate to the site. It is better when all content is provided before or during coding.
You can finally start creating the site itself. Graphic elements that have been designed during the previous stages are used at this stage to develop an actual website. Usually, the home page is created first, and then all sub-pages are added, according to the hierarchy that was previously compiled in the sitemap. The chosen frameworks and CMS are implemented to make sure that the server can handle the installation and set-up smoothly.
Testing software or a website is probably the most routine part of a process. Every single link has to be tested to make sure that there are no broken ones among them. Check every form, every script, run a spell-checking software to find possible typos. Use code validators to check if your code follows the current web standards. Valid code is necessary, for example, if cross-browser compatibility is crucial for you.
After you check and re-check your site, it’s time to upload it to a server. An FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software is used for that purpose. After the deployment of the required files, you should run yet another final test to be sure that all your files have been installed correctly.
What’s important to remember is that a website is more of a service than a product. It’s not enough to just “deliver” it to a user. Make sure that everything works fine, and everybody is satisfied and always be prepared to make changes in another case.