Today, a website is what every business needs. Websites are playing a crucial role in helping businesses reach their customers and vice versa. While exploring for a product or service, every user having internet in their phone would want to explore the product or service provider’s website before they go for offline purchase.
A good website powers brand loyalty for any business and helps it to engage more customers. In order to create a website that sustains, it is recommended to follow a precise set of instructions and execute a well-constituted plan that focuses on each and every process-component and respective challenges if there are any.
In this blog post, we shall discuss different stages of the website development process.
1. Create a Plan (Type, Objectives, Audience, Features, Budget)
Before you get into the technicalities to make a successful business website, it is recommended to create a structure of the complete process of development and its forthcoming events. Before developing a website, you may need to find answers to a few important questions such as;
- What type of website do you want to develop?
- What is your main objective of developing the website?
- Who is your audience?
- What features do you want in your application?
- How much does it cost to develop a website?
Static or dynamic? What type? If you are not aware of these two types, here is what this means. A static website utilizes client-side scripts and does not need any database to operate its functionalities. Most of the time, such websites are developed for the sole purpose of online existence and brand loyalty.
Dynamic websites on the other hand are developed using both client-side scripts and server-side languages. They are more effective than static websites.
You need to define your objectives with the website, what do you expect your website to do for you. How may it transform your business goals? A clear picture of the right objective will help you define the type and the audience at times.
The inclusion of the type of features greatly affects your website’s budget.
Alongside this, there are several other essential factors that drive your website’s overall cost such as;
- Domain & Hosting
- Graphic Designing
- Web Designing
- Tech Stack
- Advancement-Level of Features
- Testing & Maintenance
- Marketing
There can be lots of other pre or post-development expenses you may see in real-time.
So, before you get into the hardcore technicalities, you plan everything on every stage of website development. It escapes you from any unwanted surprises or challenges.
2. Define Tech Stack
A good Tech Stack helps you create a strong structure for your website. It provides you with a package of tools that help you meet your envisioned website.
There are lots of options to create the frontend and backend of your website. We can decide them categorically.
For frontend development, there are options such as;
a) AngularJS
A popular, open-source, JavaScript-based frontend framework managed by Google. It is widely known for creating interactive HTML documents.
b) js
Open-source, model–view–View Model (MVVM) for creating sized HTML documents. Used for interactive UIs and single page web applications.
c) ReactJS
Open-source, JavaScript library, document-based object model, ReactJS is popularly known as a web framework. It helps ReactJS to integrate dynamic HTML documents on your web pages.
Now, let’s have a look at some outstanding backend technology options for website development;
a) PHP
Among the world’s most used programming languages. It is a server-side, general-purpose programming language. It is the technology behind some of the world’s most popular websites & CMSs.
b) Node.js
An open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript framework that creates dynamic web pages using an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model. It can be integrated with your browser and can be used to create interactive APIs.
c) Java
A globally recognized technology used for developing small to large-scale projects. It is used for its exemplary platform-independent approach and highly-secured backend in website development.
d) ASP.NET
Microsoft’s ASP.NET is an open-source, cross-platform web framework that uses .NET and C# to create interactive web pages. It compatible follows microservices architecture and creates advanced APIs to indulge in a strong backend for websites.
3. Wireframing
It is a crucial phase in website development that allows clients and website development company to comprehend the architecture of the website to be and analyze if there are any additions or any changes in the plan.
It helps clients to visualize their website’s features and functionalities through a low-fidelity architecture of the application. Wireframing your website helps you indulge in a development plan that executes things accordingly. It is like creating an outline of your website.
It provides developers with a good understanding of the challenges they may face in the process. They can use tools like InVision, Adobe XD, Slickplan, and Mindnode for a precise and well-formatted blueprint of their website.
4. Prototyping
Many confuse prototyping with wireframing as it also visualizes a website before its development. Prototyping is a more visualized, high-fidelity form of blueprint. It is like a non-functional form of your website’s design.
After finalizing the website’s wireframe, a prototype is created as a final blueprint of the website design. It may consist of pages, features, and user actions on the website. The website designer will follow the prototype to design the website and add different functionalities.
There are several tools such as Proto.io, Origami, Axure, Mockingbird, and many others to create one-class website prototypes.
Some website development companies might skip this stage and consider wireframe only to visualize and create a real-time product. However, by following such an approach they create complexities for themselves and end up facing unprecedented outcomes at many times.
5. UI/UX Design
A website’s UI is what the users interact with. It is the first impression of your website and defines a lot of things together in a website’s success in terms of user engagement and lead generation if it has that as a purpose.
To create an interactive UI, website designers follow a tech stack that is rich-featured and helps them develop a light-weighted UI. Why so? A UI with lots of clutters will end up taking more time to load and it can severely impact your website’s engagement and other performance metrics.
To make your website compatible with different browsers, platforms, and screen orientations, designers create responsive designs for your websites.
6. Development
Once your website’s design is ready, the web development services provider then work on creating a strong backend for your website. As mentioned in the earlier sections, there are many alternatives such as PHP, Java, ASP.NET, Node.js, etc to create a sustainable backend.
The backend provides your website with a database to indulge in functionalities with an integration to the server. Setting up a strong CMS is another crucial part of an advanced development approach. It allows users to manage content over a website through a customizable panel.
A strong database indulges in faster storage, processing, and retrieval of data in different conditions.
7. Testing
QA testing is as crucial as any other component of website development as it certifies that your website is good to go to the client. Overlooking testing can cost your customer’s credibility and create significant issues in real-time.
To make sure that everything is working well, it is recommended to optimize different testing stages from user-acceptance processes such as alpha and beta testing and QA testing.
There are several manual and automation testing tools available in the market that indulge in precise, flawless, and flexible testing. These tools provide testers one-stop platform to perform different types of tests over their websites compatible.
8. Domain Registration & Hosting
You have an appealing website design. Your website is developed. Testing is done. Now is the time to finally give it to the server.
If you have not registered your domain name yet, you can register it from any of the below-mentioned websites;
- GoDaddy
- Google Domains
- BlueHost
- Hostinger
- HostGator
You can register to avail of hosting services on any of these websites. Hosting services will allow you to store your web pages over the server with the registered domain name and URL.
If you wish to register for domain and hosting prior to development, it is completely your choice. I do not see any significant disadvantages in doing or not doing so.
9. Launch
Though it is not actually a bigger part of the process, it is certainly an important one. After you have a running website, you can launch it through different mediums. It is best recommended to launch it through social media platforms ensuring a good engagement.
Wrapping Up
Developing a website is not all about using programming skills but also requires an understanding of end-users’ expectations. A website with a minimalist design can boost your growth if the users find its UI/UX engaging, content is relevant, loads faster, and ranks high. Finding a company providing such a package of web development services can be a tough job at times but what if you do.
