Every website is built with a specific end-user in mind. The best way to ensure that your business site is built to meet your customers' needs is to know what they want and need. It requires you to do a lot of research into your target audience, so you can build a site that will provide them with an optimal experience.
When building websites, you must consider how customers interact with websites from both mobile devices and desktop computers. That's why you must work closely together with developers throughout the process so that you don't miss anything when creating new designs or adding additional functionality down the road.
That's where the website development cycle comes into the picture. It includes all steps involved in developing a website, from ideation to final output. Even if you are working with a website development company, knowing the ins and outs of the website development cycle will help you get the desired outcome. Let's take a look at all the steps involved.
Website requirement analysis
The first step in the website development life cycle is to understand the purpose of your website. It will help you define your audience, their goals, and what they need from a website. It will also help you understand how much time and money you want to invest into building it.
The second step is to define who your competition is and what kind of products/services they provide. This way, you can create an original product that stands out from theirs and attract more traffic from search engines like Google (News - Alert).
Website architecture preparation
Before you can start building your website, there are some preparations to make. First, you need to identify the purpose of your website. It is a significant step because it will help guide every part of the website development life cycle from here on out. If you don't define this early on, it's easy for your project to go off track and end up with a confusing or unhelpful website that doesn't meet its goals.
Next, decide what type of site you want (CMS vs static HTML). Research each option and choose one based on what works best for you and your company's needs. Once this has been decided, start defining precisely what functionality will be available through the chosen platform. So that designers can start thinking about how they will build a user interface around these tools/functions and ensure they're not too complicated.
UI/UX design and approval
User interface (UI) design is a process of designing the interaction between the user and the product. It includes creating wireframes, mockups, prototypes, and other visual elements to communicate with users. UI design is an integral part of any project because it helps fix flaws in your website before you start development.
UI/UX design can be done by either an individual or a team of designers. In most cases, this task consists of three stages: research, strategy, and design. Research allows you to understand more about your target audience and create better solutions for them by generating ideas based on actual data rather than assumptions alone. The strategy enables you to select which ideas are best suited for solving specific problems. Finally, the design lets you visualize those concepts into concrete interactions between users and products (websites).
Website Development
Website development is the process of creating websites, from conception to launch. It's a lengthy process that requires you to take many steps, from brainstorming and research to web design and coding. The first step in website development is understanding what your site needs to do and how its users will use it. After choosing the right tools for your project, developers must integrate them into one cohesive system for them all to work together seamlessly.
Testing and Deployment
An essential step in this process is to test your site on multiple browsers, devices, and operating systems. You want to ensure that every visitor has an excellent experience with your site regardless of what they use to view it or if they have a disability. It's also essential to ensure that there are no security issues with your website and that it performs well across all platforms. If you don't have someone who can do this testing for you, many companies offer this service for free or at a reasonable price point.
Another critical part of any good web design process is ensuring everything complies with accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.0 Level AA accessibility guidelines and Section 508 laws where applicable. It means ensuring that all content works well for people using assistive technology. These include screen readers for vision impairment, speech synthesizers for hearing loss, or voice recognition software like Dragon Naturally Speaking 12 Premium 32-bit English Version 10 or later versions when using Windows or macOS laptops.
Post-deployment support and maintenance
Once the website is live, you must ensure it stays up and running. It means that you will need a system to update the site with new content and information as it becomes available. You may also want to install additional software or plug-ins that can enhance your online presence through added functionality and interactivity.
To ensure everything is working correctly, you should have someone monitor the site 24/7 for any possible problems or issues that could arise from time to time. It's essential for your website visitor's experience during the initial visit and after they have left the site. It shows how much effort has been put into maintaining such an essential part of their lives, i.e., their online presence.
And there you have it! That is our guide to building a website. The process can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. By breaking down the steps into an easy-to-follow framework and keeping in mind which types of businesses will benefit most from each step along the way, it’ll be easier for you to create your first (or next) website project.
