Process
WONDERING HOW I BUILD A WEBSITE?
HIS SHOULD GIVE YOU A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF MY PROCESS
When it comes to web design and development, it's pretty important to work with a developer that knows how to achieve what you're looking for. I have a nine step process (which is where my company name fits in) that allows us to work together while having you participate in the process. Have a look around my website and read my design and development process to geta better idea of the steps involved in bringing your website to life.
INTRODUCTIONS
In our initial contact we can properly introduce ourselves and talk about your website project. We 'll most likely have a very informal chat with respect to what you're looking for, wether it be new website or a rebranding so-to-speak. I usually like to have a rough budget and timeline to work with at this point as well. This will give us both a good idea of the questions either of us will need answered in the next step, where we'll go into greater detail on your project.
LET'S FIND A GOAL
I find one of the most commen issues I run to with new clients is the scope of their project. Most often, client have an end goal in ind and what they expoect the final result of their project to look and feel like. However, often times this will expand as the website comes together. This generally isn't a problem but if the budget and timeline don't match what we've agreed to then your website project will quickly become an unrealistic project for me to continue with.
SITE MAP & LAYOUT
The sitemap the roadmap so-to-speak of your website. Your sitemap will give me a clear direction on the content and the reasoning behind the link to each of your pages. Your sitemap will also give me some inspiration for the layout of your website. The layout wont gove me the all the final design elements for your page but I'll certainly have the right route to take your website and act as a guide on how your website will ultimately look.
CONTENT CREATION
Once your website’s framework is in place, you can start with the most important aspect of the site: the written content. Content serves two essential purposes: Purpose 1. Content drives engagement and action First, content engages readers and drives them to take the actions necessary to fulfill a site’s goals. This is affected by both the content itself (the writing), and how it’s presented (the typography and structural elements). Dull, lifeless, and overlong prose rarely keeps visitors’ attention for long. Short, snappy, and intriguing content grabs them and gets them to click through to other pages. Even if your pages need a lot of content — and often, they do — properly “chunking” that content by breaking it up into short paragraphs supplemented by visuals can help it keep a light, engaging feel. Purpose 2: SEO Content also boosts a site’s visibility for search engines. The practice of creation and improving content to rank well in search is known as search engine optimization, or SEO. Getting your keywords and key-phrases right is essential for the success of any website. I always use Google Keyword Planner. This tool shows the search volume for potential target keywords and phrases, so you can hone in on what actual human beings are searching on the web. While search engines are becoming more and more clever, so should your content strategies. Google Trends is also handy for identifying terms people actually use when they search. My design process focuses on designing websites around SEO. Keywords you want to rank for need to be placed in the title tag — the closer to the beginning, the better. Keywords should also appear in the H1 tag, meta description, and body content. Content that’s well-written, informative, and keyword-rich is more easily picked up by search engines, all of which helps to make the site easier to find. Typically, your client will produce the bulk of the content, but it’s vital that you supply them with guidance on what keywords and phrases they should include in the text. Awesome content creation tools • Google Docs • Dropbox Paper • Quip • Gather Content • Webflow CMS (content management system) Handy SEO tools • Google Keyword Planner • Google Trends • Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider
VISUAL ELEMENTS
Finally, it’s time to create the visual style for the site. This part of the design process will often be shaped by existing branding elements, colour choices, and logos, as stipulated by the client. But it’s also the stage of the web design process where a good web designer can really shine. Images are taking on a more significant role in web design now than ever before. Not only do high-quality images give a website a professional look and feel, but they also communicate a message, are mobile-friendly, and help build trust. Visual content is known to increase clicks, engagement, and revenue. But more than that, people want to see images on a website. Not only do images make a page feel less cumbersome and easier to digest, but they also enhance the message in the text, and can even convey vital messages without people even needing to read. I recommend using a professional photographer to get the images right. You can try free stock photos but keep in mind that massive, beautiful images can seriously slow down a site. I use Optimizilla to compress images without losing quality, saving on page-load times. You’ll also want to make sure your images are as responsive as your site. The visual design is a way to communicate and appeal to the site's users. Get it right, and it can determine the site’s success. Get it wrong, and you’re just another web address. Tools for visual elements • The usual suspects (Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.) • Moodboards, style tiles, element collages • Visual style guides
TESTING
Once the site has all its visuals and content, you’re ready for testing. Thoroughly test each page to make sure all links are working and that the website loads properly on all devices and browsers. Errors may be the result of small coding mistakes, and while it is often a pain to find and fix them, it’s better to do it now than present a broken site to the public. Editor’s note: I highly recommend Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider for this stage. It lets you do many of the standard auditing tasks all in one tool, and it’s free for up to 500 URLs. Have one last look at the page meta titles and descriptions too. Even the order of the words in the meta title can affect the performance of the page on a search engine. Webflow has an excellent article on the pre-launch process. Website testing tools • W3C Link Checker • SEO Spider
LAUNCH
Now it’s time for everyone’s favorite part of the website design process: When everything has been thoroughly tested, and you’re happy with the site, it’s time to launch. Don’t expect this to go perfectly. There may be still some elements that need fixing. Web design is a fluid and ongoing process that requires constant maintenance. Web design — and really, design in general — is all about finding the right balance between form and function. You need to use the right fonts, colors, and design motifs. But the way people navigate and experience your site is just as important. Skilled designers should be well versed in this concept and able to create a site that walks the delicate tightrope between the two. A key thing to remember about the launch stage is that it’s nowhere near the end of the job. The beauty of the web is that it’s never finished. Once the site goes live, you can continually run user testing on new content and features, monitor analytics, and refine your messaging.
MAINTENANCE
The final step is where we launch your product to the production server. Here we consider components such as cloud architecture, performance, and cybersecurity if that is within that scope of your project. At this point, you are officially live!
COMMUNICATION
After building your product, we will review your product with our talented testing team. In these steps, we will test your product with different data set and conditions. Also, this phase is essential for fixing design and development issues.
SO C'MON, IT'S TIME
If you have a project you'de like to discuss, I would like to hear from you.
and I'll get back to you before I finish my coffee.
I always welcome the opportunity to hear from others. So if you're curious about my plans, products or services or maybe you're bored and just wanted to say hi.
Do you have an idea for a new project? Would you like to update a current one? Give me a little information to get started with and we can go from there.
Regardless fo your reason, don't hesitate to start a conversation.
