Stage 1: Information gathering: purpose, main objectives and target audience

The preliminary research and information-gathering phase determines how all subsequent stages of development will proceed. The most important thing at this stage – to get a clear and complete understanding of what will be the purpose of your future site, what goals you want to achieve with it, as well as what is the target audience you want to attract him. This kind of questionnaire web development will determine the best strategy for further development of the project. News portals are different from entertainment sites, and sites for teenagers are different from those for adult audiences. Different sites provide different functionality to visitors, and therefore different technology should be used in one case or another. A detailed plan created based on the data from this phase can prevent you from spending additional resources on unforeseen difficulties, such as changing the design or adding functionality not originally foreseen.

Approximate time: 1 to 2 weeks

Stage 2: Planning: creating the site map and layout

At this stage of development, the customer can already get an idea of what the future site. Based on the information gathered at the previous stage, a sitemap is created. This is how XB Software’s sitemap looks like, for example:

A sitemap describes the relationship between the different parts of your site. It helps you understand how user-friendly it will be. From the sitemap, you can determine the “distance” from the home page to the other pages, which helps to judge how easy it will be for the user to get to the information they’re interested in. The main purpose of creating a sitemap is to create an easy-to-navigate, user-friendly product. This allows you to understand the internal structure of the future site, but it does not describe what the site will look like. Sometimes it can be important to get the customer’s approval before starting to write code or design. In this case, creates a layout (wireframe or mock-up). Layout is a visual representation of the future site interface. But, in contrast to, for example, a template, which we will talk about next, it does not contain the elements of design, such as colors, logos, etc. It only describes what elements will be placed on the page and how they will be arranged. The layout is a sort of sketch of the future site. You can use one of the available online services to create layouts.

Also at this stage it is worth deciding which technology stack (programming language, frameworks, CMS) will be used.

Approximate time: from 2 to 6 weeks.

Stage 3: Design: page template, review and approval

In this stage, the website gets even closer to its final form. All visual content such as images, photos, and videos are created now. Again, all of the information that was gathered in the very first stage of the project is extremely important in this step. The customer’s interests, as well as the target audience, must be considered first and foremost during the design process. Designer at this stage, creates a page template (page layout). The main purpose of the template – to visualize the structure of the page, its contents, as well as display the basic functionality. This time, unlike the layout, it uses design elements. The template contains colors, logos and images. It gives a judgement on how the final result will look like the finished site. Once created, the template can be sent to the customer. After reviewing the work done by the customer, he sends his feedback. If he is not satisfied with any aspect of the design, you have to change the existing template and send it again to the customer. This cycle repeats until the customer is completely satisfied with the result.

Approximate time: 4 to 12 weeks.

Step 4: Content Creation

The process of content creation usually passes in parallel to other stages of development and its role should not be underestimated. At this step, you need to describe the very essence of what you want to convey to the audience of your website, as well as add a CTA (call to action). This stage also includes creating attractive and catchy headlines, writing and editing text, compiling existing texts, etc. All of this requires additional time and effort. Typically, the customer provides content that is already ready to be posted on the site. It is important that all content be prepared before or during the development phase.

Approximate time: 5 to 15 weeks

Step 5: Design and layout

Now you can finally go directly to the layout of the site. All of the graphic elements developed earlier are used at this stage. Usually the home page is created first, and then the other pages are added to it in accordance with the hierarchy developed during the site map phase. Also at this stage is the installation of CMS. All static elements of the website, the design of which was developed earlier during the creation of the template, are transformed into real dynamic interactive elements of the web page. Another important task is SEO-optimization (Search Engine Optimization) which is the optimization of a web page elements (titles, description, keywords) in order to raise the website position in search engine results. Code validity is extremely important in this case.

Approximate time: 6 to 15 weeks.

Stage 6: Testing and launching

Testing is probably the most routine part of development. Every link must be tested, every form and every script must be tested. The text must be tested with a spell checker to detect possible typos and errors. Code validators are used to ensure that the code created in the previous step is fully compliant with current web standards. This can be very important if, for instance, cross-browser compatibility is important to you. Once you have checked and rechecked your site, it can be uploaded to the server. Usually an FTP client is used for this. After the site is uploaded to the server, another test should be performed to be sure that no unexpected errors occurred during the upload and that all files are intact and unharmed.

Estimated time: two to four weeks

Step 7: Support: user feedback and regular updates

It is important to understand that the website is more a service than a product. It is not enough to simply “deliver” it to the consumer. It’s also important to make sure everything is working as planned and that users are happy with the end product. You also need to be prepared to make changes quickly, if necessary. A feedback system will allow you to identify problems encountered by site visitors. The most critical task in such cases will be to resolve problems as quickly as possible. Otherwise, your users are more likely to prefer another resource than to put up with the inconvenience. Also, you shouldn’t forget about regular CMS updates. Regular updates will save you from bugs and security problems.

Continuous process