Have you ever given any thought to the process that goes into creating a website? What steps should web designers take to ensure their clients' websites achieve their goals? And how can a website design process checklist ensure that every base is covered comprehensively? You may be just starting a new website project, and as a result, you're feeling overwhelmed. Or you are an experienced marketer striving to stay one step ahead of developing technology. We will show you our 8 phases of the website design and development process
Designing a website process
In this part of the guide, we will explain why adhering to a detailed design process of a website is so important to the success of every project that we work on and to ensuring that our clients are completely satisfied with our services at all times. Because methods have evolved and been refined over the years, we will describe the steps involved in our web design and development process, beginning with the initial consultation and continuing through the launch, and identify some important technical terms.
Step-by-step Guidelines
Guidelines in a website design process step-by-step format for the website design UX process. In this section of the UX design process for a website, we explain some of the technical jargon commonly used and discuss our website design process for website that we take to build a website, beginning with the initial meeting and ending with the launch. Discover how following an agile website design process that is logically structured, will help you save time and effort while producing more remarkable outcomes in your website design. Try Prateeksha Web Design as soon as possible instead of putting it off any longer.
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- Industry and Competitor Research
- Planning
- Content Strategy
- Design and Layout
- Conducting Keyword Research and Creating SEO Content
- Migration of WordPress themes to the Gutenberg platform
- Creating a Website While Incorporating every Feature Possible
- Launch
1. Industry and Competitor Research
We at Prateeksha Web Design feel that research is necessary when designing an effective, responsive website. We devote significant time and effort to the creative research process during the discovery phase. During this responsive website design process, we also analyse project needs, research competitors, and utilise various analysis tools like BrandWatch, Semrush etc. These activities are performed to better understand your business and your customers. To begin our website design UX process, we conduct various desk research tasks to determine the entire scope of the project and learn as much as possible. We ascertain who our potential clients are and assess our end goals—about the achievements of your competitors, as well as an in-depth understanding of the methods. We then practically evaluate your company’s requirements, taking into account both short-term and long-term goals and internal and external pressures. The currently collected metrics are analysed to provide vital insights into how people engage with the existing website. After that, we formulate the project plan to align with the company's needs. We investigate the conditions that company and the client have for the website, as well as the features that are required to achieve those requirements. The agile website design process significantly relies on creating typical user profiles to provide direction for the design process. We can make the experience better for all users if we first classify them according to their needs and then create a website design process flowchart suited for each category. Designing a website process would be more effective if you utilise the time and resources on design planning and decisions to figure out the issue at hand and come up with a viable solution. A comprehensive understanding of the project's goals is necessary for successful design and development stages. Before deciding on a web design business, you must be sure you have researched.
2. The Planning
The decisions made and the rough drafts created during the planning stage will be the basis for the remainder of the project. When we reach this stage, we begin engaging with our clients, and we pay close attention to their requirements. The extent to which the project's scope will be broad or narrow will be established by the reason the website exists. We always clarify what information and features are needed to be included on the website and confirm by what date to accomplish the goals that have been set. Determining the objective of a website should be the first step in the process of developing a website. The goal is something that the designer and the customer should do together. The owner of the firm and the development team need to carry out an analysis of the business idea. Planning enables one to understand the bigger picture of a business idea, plan the appropriate steps in designing and developing it, and create a website that customers genuinely want to buy. Including a list of explicit objectives or a brief paragraph that outlines the expected outcomes could be beneficial. With any luck, this will get the design going in the right direction. Find out who you are attempting to attract to the website, and research your rivals to figure out how you can succeed where they have. At this point, we also analyse the competition to identify which elements are essential and which are merely desired for your website. You need to decide the scope of the project, as well as its goals, based on the information that is gathered at this stage. After that, our team moves on to the phase when we design the website. We also create a contract that spells out monetary terms, ownership, and responsibility responsibilities. Essential aspects of the documentation include the terms of payment, the project completion, the agreement's termination, who owns the copyright, and the timelines that are clearly defined and mentioned. This document will help safeguard oneself in a clear-cut and efficient way.
3. The strategy behind the content
After the website project parameters have been defined, we can move on to the content strategy and begin sketching the sitemap and the components that correspond to it. Since we now have an overarching perspective of Information Architecture, we can start developing the website's home page and the other pages, doing so with an eye toward search engine optimization (SEO), which ensures that each page is devoted to a particular subject matter. You must have access to genuine and unique content that will help in the Google Ranking of the website. We will then walk you through the process of configuring your website in a way that makes it crystal clear to users how to navigate it. During this phase of the process, we will develop navigation labels, build a site map, and define a specific taxonomy of design. Our designer creates wireframes and prototypes, drawing inspiration from the site map. Wireframes allow the graphical depiction of page layouts for websites and mobile applications. The prototype is a functioning representation of the finished website. Wireframes and prototypes are essential components of every website because they illustrate how the site will look and function. Every well-designed website needs a sitemap as its primary navigational tool. This feature will benefit web designers because it clarifies the relationships between the site's multiple pages and content areas. You cannot create a website without a sitemap, which is like to building a house without blueprints. This nearly invariably has negative outcomes.
4. Design and Layout
In this step the website's wireframe and many design aspects are planned out in advance. The initial step in the design process is known as wireframing the layout, and it is influenced by the feedback collected from the client during the phase of planning that comes before it. When the time has come to begin the ecommerce website design process, we start with designing the aesthetic of the website and existing components of the client's branding, such as colour preferences and logos which have a crucial impact on the website. Utilising tools such as style tiles, mood boards, and element collages can be helpful in this regard and make the process more manageable. During the first step of Mood Board and UI design, the layout, visual direction, UI assets (such as icons, banners, and patterns), and layout are established. The basic structure of the website will be selected by our UI/UX designer, who will also consider any limitations imposed on the chosen design. A prototype can be developed when the results of a needs assessment are analysed and interpreted. Mockups created in Photoshop are advantageous because they can be easily updated, the design elements can be grouped in layers in an orderly fashion, and you can get ready to begin slicing and coding when the time comes. During the design phase, the plans that were created during the planning phase will begin to assume physical form. Documentation of the site architecture and, more importantly, a visual depiction of it will be the key outputs of this process. After the foundation of the ecommerce website design process has been laid and the initial content has been added, we may work on the site's layout and visual identity. The primary goal of our design team is to establish the overarching project priorities that will function as a road map for the duration of the process that encompasses the project's design and development. The next step is to brainstorm potential designs for the website and construct a prototype using a wireframe. Wireframes not only act as a repository for the visual design and information of the website, but they also function as a diagnostic tool that can be used to identify issues and holes in the sitemap. To begin, content attracts visitors to a website and inspires those visitors to carry out the necessary behaviours that contribute to the success of a website. It is improbable that poorly written content lacking in personality and excessive length would hold readers' interest. Their attention can be captured, and their motivation to navigate to other sites increases by providing concise, entertaining content and not overly lengthy. Even if your pages require a lot of content, which they typically do, you can still keep them light and entertaining by "chunking" the text into more manageable chunks, such as short paragraphs, and supplementing it with graphics. This will allow you to keep your pages interesting even if they require a lot of content. The incorporation of pictures into the layout of websites is taking on an increasingly vital role. When used on a website, high-quality images provide several benefits, including the appearance of professionalism, the facilitation of comprehension, and the enhancement of the site's responsiveness to mobile devices. It has been demonstrated that the inclusion of graphics increases the amount of traffic, reader interest, and commercial results. In addition, visitors to a website anticipate being presented with visual content. Images not only make a page seem lighter and easier to digest, but they also complement the meaning of the text. They can convey important information even before the reader opens the text. Images are a valuable addition to any page. The website's visual design provides information to site users and attracts new visitors to the website. It can make or break the site's popularity, depending on how well it is executed. You will only be remembered if the URL is entered correctly. User interface (UI) designers are responsible for developing a website's overall appearance and atmosphere. It is essential to have a well-developed user interface (UI) to bring in new consumers and keep the ones you have. Your company will stand out more on the Internet with the help of our individualised designs for user interfaces.
5. Conducting Keyword Research and Creating SEO Content
Knowing how to include SEO in your website design process is a very crucial step. No matter how fascinating your design, the interactive experience you provide, or the story you tell, none of those things will matter if your website does not rank top in search engines and no one can find your content.
Research your primary keywords first, and then move on to the low-hanging-fruit keywords and long-tail phrases. Following completing basic Keyword Research and examining the level of competition, we write a SEO Content Brief.
Locate the keywords that will provide the most accurate description of the content that you intend to write. Make a list of the keywords you intend to include in the text, starting with the most important and working your way down to the least important. Using those keywords in new content would be a huge boost for your site's visibility in search engines.
Look for about 10–20 keywords to use throughout the entire site, and use each one at least 2–4 times on the home page. Instead of having two different pages for the same keywords, you could merge the pages that use comparable keywords into a single page.
All title and h1-h6 tags should be optimised. We fill in the header tags with relevant keywords. Google also takes into account the "alt" attribute of images. Globally, we enhance each page for that specific term.
Determine as soon as possible what you want to accomplish with your project. Increase brand value, improve your sales or pump up the ranking in Google. Because of your intent, you can develop your content with a strategy to bring about the impacts you are looking for.
Prateeksha Web Design can assist you in learning about the strategies utilised by your competitors, locating areas in which you may improve, and discovering novel ways to approach your existing clientele to expand your business.
Prateeksha Web Design can assist you in developing a content proposal for your website. Include Target Keywords (based on your earlier keyword research), Top Questions to Answer (What is my target audience looking for), Suggested URL, and Top Questions Answer are just a few examples of what you should include. Include Title Tag, Meta Description, H1, other heading tags, Suggested URL, and Target Keywords (based on your earlier keyword research).
Websites for conducting research, some of which may include content produced by competitors. To ensure everyone is on the same page with the marketing plan, it is helpful to provide in-depth descriptions of the target audience and the desired emotional tenor. Use Google Docs to ensure that everyone on the team has access to the content brief (or another suitable collaborative site).
6. The conversion to WordPress Gutenberg platform
Most of the content's coding and uploading occurs during the conversion process. As the finished website takes shape, check that the code is well-organised and documented, and be sure to refer back to the planning process's specifics continually. If you want to avoid problems in the future, adopt a systematic approach and frequently test as you go along. Several web pages can be created from scratch using templates (such as the homepage, available content, blog posts, and contact forms). For work of this nature, it is strongly suggested that you develop your templates to use. Our area of expertise lies in the development of theme styling, interactive prototypes and elements that can be customised. The intricate details start to come into play now. Before we add any static content to the website, we always take care of this matter first because the website is currently in a reasonably organised state. After ensuring that the text, media, and links work correctly and receiving feedback on how they do so, we post the content to the website. A thorough analysis of the website should be performed at this reasonable time. It would help if you double-checked the aesthetics and functionality of every page you've developed, beginning with the landing page and working your way through the confirmation page for submitted forms, using the website design process checklist that comes with your file management.
7. When Creating a Website, Be Sure to Include All of the Available Functionality
The next step is for us to analyse the conversions, which can include anything from filled contact forms and phone calls tracked from the website to online sales and requests for information that can be downloaded. We are going to investigate and determine which of the components are converting effectively and which ones are not. It's time to get to business and write some valid XHTML and CSS code. Before the underlying HTML and CSS can be created, the final Photoshop mockup must be sectioned into its parts. Before going on to interactive components and jQuery, the first step is to concentrate on putting the finishing touches on the visual presentation on the screen and then thoroughly validate the code. Forms and validation are two features that developers frequently introduce at this stage. Standard technologies documenting business processes include straightforward files created in Google Docs or Microsoft Word and mind-mapping software such as Freemind and Microsoft Visio. You may develop your Web-based internal tool to take things to the next level of ambition. While reviewing and making changes to the site, we will push it to a staging server so the client can access it. After the website has been finished and given the go-ahead, we will upload it to the server, where it will be visible to the public.
8. Website launch
When all of the testing is through, and you are happy with the site, it is time to launch, which is the phase of website design that everyone looks forward to the most. Because of this, it is essential to plan not only the launch date but also the methods that will be used to spread the news about the launch before beginning the website design planning process.
At this point in the process, we are working toward making the website available to the general public. Due to this, the design will need to be fine-tuned, significant functionality testing will be required, and the focus will need to be on the overall experience.
In this stage, one of the first things to do is, if necessary, to transfer the website to the dedicated server. Testing the website icon's environment is essential because the functionality and behaviour may differ from server to server (e.g., different database host addresses).
Polishing. If you have some more time before the deadline, going back and making little adjustments to a design that is already very close to being finished can make a huge difference. You'll discover below several minor adjustments that, if made, would result in significant improvements to the website. You want the customer to feel the same level of satisfaction with this website as you do.
We are now transferring to the live server. Examples of this include switching to a website on Web server (although we assume you've been testing in the website environment), "unhiding" the site, or removing the "Under construction" page from the website. Now is the time to perform a last-minute check on the current online website. Make sure the client is aware of this, and if the site is already popular, give careful consideration when you launch the campaign.
Testing. It is essential to perform final diagnostics on the website using the many code validators, broken link checkers, website health checks, word checkers, and so on that are currently accessible. You would instead conduct your inspection of the job to look for defects rather than wait for a client or user to flag them out to you.
The last examination of browser compatibility (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, iPhone, BlackBerry). Before launching the website to the public, test it in various browsers. Even if the code is correct, there is no assurance that Internet Explorer 6 will show the page correctly.
Check that all links are operational, and ensure that the page can be loaded correctly on various platforms, browsers, and devices. It is preferable to provide a website that works than one that contains faults generated by careless coding, even though it can be a headache to track down and fix issues caused by sloppy code.
It is essential to keep in mind that the launch phase differs from the process's conclusion. The wonderful thing about the Internet is that it is constantly developing. As soon as the website is live, there will be opportunities for continual user testing of new content and features, analytics monitoring, and message modification.
Refrain from assuming everything will go smoothly. Some specifics still require some fine-tuning on your end. Designing a website is fluid and ongoing and requires regular maintenance.
At this point in designing a website, all of our attention is being focused on the various tests that are required to be carried out. After the website's general layout has been finished, the testing phase may begin to check that it functions as intended.
Hope you have enjoyed reading our 8 steps in website design and development process, please contact us immediately if you would like a professionally built and promoted website. Do not put off what you can do today. To help you stand out from the crowd and achieve more success, we will revamp your website in the most optimal method.