📖 Web Development Process

Conceptualize and Research

When you're getting ready to create a web site, you are probably anxious to start creating some pages right away. However, you will save yourself a lot of time and trouble in the long run if you will take the time up front to do a little planning. In fact, planning is probably the most important step in developing a web site. Before you start, ask yourself (or your client) the following questions:

  • Strategy - Why are you creating this web site? What do you expect to accomplish? What brings your visitors back?
  • General Site Description - What kind of site is it? Promotional, informational, commercial, social? What features will it have? Who are your competition?
  • Target Audience - Who will be coming to your site? How can you tailor the Web site to reach that audience?
  • Content - Where will you get the information for the Web site? How often will it be updated?
  • Resources - Can I build the planned Web site within my budget constraints? How many staff and how much time is needed? Will you have your own server?
  • Graphic Look and Feel - What look and feel do you envision? What colors?

As you begin working on your site, you will find that you need to continuously review these questions to make sure you haven't strayed from your original intent.

Create and Organize Content

Although we will spend most of our time in this course on creating and designing the web pages, the most important part of a web site is the content. That's really what visitors are interested in when they visit your site. Before you start designing the cite, make an outline of the content that you (or your client) want to include on the site. Organize the content into logical groupings and use this as a guide for what pages you will include in the site.

Develop the Look and Feel

Sketch out a basic design for your pages. How do you want the site to look? What colors will you use? What types of images and graphics will you want to include? You may want to try 2 or 3 different styles to see which one you or your client prefers.

Produce a Working Prototype

Now you are ready to begin creating the Web pages. First, gather the information that you want to include on the page. Mark up the text with HTML and format with CSS. Add graphics, images and digital media.

Test Pages

Once your pages have been created, you need to test them to make sure they will display properly on the Web. It is imperative that you:

  • Test in different browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome, current and -1 versions
  • Test on different screen sizes and resolutions to make sure your pages will look good in all of them
  • Test all links - internal and external
  • Have someone else test your pages. After all, you know what they are supposed to do. Someone else may have difficulty finding certain items or understanding the navigation structure. Their feedback can help you improve your page before exposing it to the public.

Launch the Site

Upload to the server, test to make sure everything works ok and make it available to the public.

Maintain the Site

Once your pages are completed, you will need to periodically come back and modify them to:

  • Correct mistakes
  • Update content (users will eventually quit coming back if there's nothing new to see)
  • Give your site a fresh look. Pages can look dated after a while (things move fast on the Internet), so you'll want to keep your page looking up to date.