The web design process

There are probably lots of different ways to get from idea to finished website, but here is a brief guide to the process we follow when building a new website. Or see a nifty infographic of the web design process here.

In this article we're thinking about a small business website, of between four to ten pages. The process would be different for an ecommerce or database driven website.

Research

We would start by researching the business and industry. That would include talking to the business owner and relevant staff and looking into the competitors and target market. The depth of research would depend on the budget and therefore time available to be dedicated to the project.

Design

Once we've got all the ideas bubbling around in our heads, we'll start on the concept design. We wouldn't start coding that this stage - but we'd start to pin down colourschemes, layouts, where the call to action buttons will be and what sort of imagery will be used.

Build 

When the concept is perfect and reflects accurately the vision of the client, then we would start coding the site. This involves making a master page and the sub pages in a development area. Using modern html, css and .NET coding techniques and master pages make the website leaner, and it's much easier to make changes.

Content

Now we have a skeleton which is ready to have some flesh put on it - i.e. content. Unless they have requested content generation services, content is usually supplied by the client. Photos are either supplied by the client or we use stock photo banks.

Finalisation

The client is able to view the website in a development area with all the content in place, and they can log in to make changes and get the hang of how everything works. Once they agree that everything is perfect and they give us the nod, we will complete the finalisation of the site. This includes adding the meta-data and on page SEO and checking all domain names, email addresses and related configuration is set up.

Launch

Usually the most exciting part for the client! The website takes its first steps in the real world. It's a busy time for us and we go through our launch procedure, including submission to search engines, hooking up to Google analytics, testing emails and web forms and much more.

Maintenance

When the website goes live we monitor it regularly, and make tweaks where we think it will improve the performance. We will also carry out basic SEO work as standard, including submission to directories.

If you want to find out more about Sentiva web design Leeds, click here.