Before you start to build the website a little planning is needed to determine the site’s core purpose. This is important as it guides the development of content and interfaces that can affect the wider engagement of the website. 

Think about who the website is for? What customers or clients will be arriving at the website and what action do you want them to take? Are you a resource of information on a business topic or an ecommerce site with something to sell?

You will also need a sitemap and wireframe creations for your website before you can get onto the process of adding content and visual elements. These aspects of website development help web designers to understand the layout and purpose of web pages. 

But layout and purpose are not the only functions of sitemaps and wireframes, they give designers a clear idea of the website’s foundational architecture and the relationship between pages, content, and visual elements.

You want your website to look right and to be on-brand if you have a very specific brand identity. This is where visual elements come in, after you have your sitemap made and some content on the site you can turn your attention to its style. 

Some clients have a clear idea of their style from the start, this makes the website visual style development a bit more straightforward. If you’re building from the ground up, however, you can make use of tools such as style tiles, moodboards, and element collages.  

At the point of website testing, everything should be in place – you have the website architecture set up, the content,, and the visual elements in place. Now you need to test it to make sure it works well for visitors and clients. 

There is a movement towards user experience on the Web now which includes user expectations and search engine algorithms, this means you should test the site’s manual browsing on various devices as well as with automated website crawlers.

You want your website to look right and to be on-brand if you have a very specific brand identity. This is where visual elements come in, after you have your sitemap made and some content on the site you can turn your attention to its style. 

Some clients have a clear idea of their style from the start, this makes the website visual style development a bit more straightforward. If you’re building from the ground up, however, you can make use of tools such as style tiles, moodboards, and element collages.  

After everything is working well it’s time to let the world know about your new website and start promoting your content online. A launch event is an excellent idea as it draws attention to your shiny new site and kick starts a new phase for your business. 

However, this launch event also requires a bit of planning, you need a strategy for communication and timing so you get the right attention for your brand. Consider various ad campaigns on social media and your business niche.

Google Analytics can be daunting. If you’ve been sent a login, and don’t know where to start or if you’ve got an idea of what’s going in on there, but you’d like to dig a bit deeper a really know how your website is performing, contact us, we’d love to hear from you.