Web's Edge Web Design

phone: 209.604.5576| fax: 209.577.3142| email: support@websedgewebdesign.com

Website Development Process

(Applicable to Print too!)
The process starts with a concept and an overall mission that a client wants to communicate to their customers/clients through their website. A website plan needs to be developed will involve exploring the following: an objective & goals, brainstorming & research, organization and structure of content, gathering necessary materials and then wallah it's time to develop and deploy your website.

►Objectives & Goals

Who is your audience?
How can you tailor your website to reach your target audience?
What are your site goals? What is the purpose of your site?
How will your site accomplish these goals?
What content and services will it contain?
What content will drive people back to your site?
What are your sources for content?
How often should the website be updated?
Who will be responsible for updating the website?
What are the other website's with similar goals or with a similar audience?

►Brainstorming & Research

What kind of information do you want to provide and how do you want your audience to be able to interact with your site? Who is your competition and what do you like about their website's that you would like to include in your website?

►Organization and Structure of the Content

After you have brainstormed content, ask yourself, what areas are most important in supporting your ultimate site goals and objectives? Identify these elements and begin to visualize how your user will navigate your website and find the information they are looking for. What are they looking for on your website? Will your user be able to easily find the information? How?

Create a Flow Chart
It may be helpful to create a navigational flow chart, which will show how each page will flow into another and how the pages within the site will be connected to one another. This will help determine how the site will be organized, how many pages will be needed, and the information that will be provided on each page, and will give an inkling as to how the navigation of the website should be set up. Keeping in mind that this should all be done from the end users perspective.

►Gathering Materials

Now that you have a plan that will determine the organization and structure of your website's content - it's time to gather all of the materials that will be needed. It's a good idea to have a checklist of what's needed for each page in the website. The checklist should include all the copy (text used on page), photos, logos and graphics.

Creating a Design
It's time to Surf the Web a little, unless you already know exactly what look and feel that you would like for your website. It's time to determine the colors, fonts, logos and photos.

►Wallah! Development & Deployment

This is the stage that the website designer will be hard at work incorporating all prepared materials into your website, then they will test it and deploy it to the World Wide Web/Internet.