{"id":495,"date":"2018-10-26T07:26:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T01:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hestabit.com\/blog?p=495"},"modified":"2021-10-14T13:21:50","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T07:51:50","slug":"steps-for-website-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hestabit.com\/blog\/steps-for-website-development\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Steps That Are Necessary For An Ideal Website Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all admire a beautifully designed website. We admire the exquisite visuals, the friendly User Interface, and ofcourse the refreshing content. But what exactly leads to all this? It\u2019s certainly not luck. Some serious teamwork goes behind Website Development. <\/span>Website Development is an intersection of different phases or steps. It\u2019s a collaborative effort involving the Marketing, Designing, and Technical personnel. <\/span><\/p>\n

So let\u2019s discuss each step in detail. Let\u2019s understand the process from initiation to completion.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Looking at the bigger picture<\/b><\/p>\n

Before any \u2018What\u2019, there\u2019s a \u2018Why\u2019 that needs to be answered. This applies to website development<\/a> too. Therefore, it\u2019s important to define the scope of a website beforehand. <\/span><\/p>\n

What does your brand represent? What are your business goals? What is your target audience?, and more importantly, What kind of content will create interest in the target audience?<\/span><\/p>\n

These are the handful of questions that should be answered before proceeding further. Otherwise, all your efforts to create a contemporary website will fall flat. <\/span><\/p>\n

So to define the project\u2019s scope and answer all the above questions, SRS documentation is done in the planning phase. SRS (Software Requirements Specifications) contains the information on the goals, parameters, target audience, user interface, hardware and software requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides this, a decision on CMS (Content Management System) is also taken. Whether you want to go for WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla, is decided during the planning phase itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. Setting Up The Architecture<\/b><\/p>\n

Once the information pool is there, the next step is to build the website\u2019s architecture. Sitemapping is an ideal way to start things off. <\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose of a Sitemap is to establish the navigational flow of a website. In other words, it\u2019s a blueprint that shows the relationship between a website\u2019s pages and its content elements. <\/span><\/p>\n

That said, sitemap doesn\u2019t give you an idea of the user interface. This is the reason why wireframing is done. <\/span><\/p>\n

So what\u2019s a wireframe?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a highly simplified representation of a website. The layout is in the form of blocks, where the text is indicated by lines, and image-spaces are indicated by squares having \u2018X\u2019 inscribed in them. Such a format establishes the architecture without doing much detailing. <\/span><\/p>\n

The wireframe is like an experimenting ground, on which you can do the number of iterations before finalizing the structure. Tools like <\/span>Balsamiq<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Axure<\/span><\/a>, or <\/span>Pencil Evolus<\/span><\/a> can be used in this regard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although a wireframe makes things easier, still it\u2019s not artistic in nature. It doesn\u2019t showcase the colours, logos, and other visuals. For that, prototypes need to be created, which is the next step in the website development process.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Giving A Feel To The Website<\/b><\/p>\n

What\u2019s a person without personality? Very much useless. Similarly, Wireframe is a layout sans the personality of a website Therefore it\u2019s important to impart a feel to the website so that it reflects the brand\u2019s personality. This is why a website\u2019s prototype is created. <\/span><\/p>\n

A prototype is a mock-up of the website\u2019s live version. During this phase, the colour combinations, logos, and typography are incorporated, keeping the target audience in mind. For example, if a website is youth-oriented, then colours like purple, yellow, red, and green are used. The idea is to remain consistent with the brand\u2019s ethos and identity. <\/span><\/p>\n

The aim is to create a web design in which the functionalities remain consistent. Take for example a functionality like the \u2018View\u2019 button. To provide a user-friendly experience, this button should be placed exactly at the same spot in every section. Because of this consistency, users won\u2019t have to search for the same button in every section. <\/span><\/p>\n

Web designers usually create more than one prototypes for a website. They are mostly created in JPEG format. <\/span><\/p>\n

4. Making The Website Functional<\/b><\/p>\n

This phase is all technical, and this is where developers jump in. <\/span><\/p>\n

In layman\u2019s terms, developers fetch the graphic elements from the prototype and make them functional. Moreover, the selected CMS, as well as Contact Forms, are also implemented during this phase. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Home Page is developed first. Once it\u2019s done, a \u2018Shell\u2019 is created for the interior pages. This \u2018Shell\u2019 serves as a template for the content pages. <\/span><\/p>\n

All this might sound very simple, but some serious front-end web development goes behind the scene. This includes writing robust HTML\/ CSS codes that align with accepted standards and result in flawless functionalities. <\/span><\/p>\n

The transition from mock-ups to a live website involve various stages of coding. Firstly, the components of the website are mapped into the HTML elements and a basic HTML code is written. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the next stage, the look and feel of a website are defined and stored in CSS files as stylesheets. Once defined, a stylesheet can be used for multiple HTML pages, thereby saving a lot of time for developers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the final stage, the dynamic elements like contact forms, carousels, auto-fill fields etc. are added to the website using JavaScript. <\/span><\/p>\n

5. Testing it out<\/b><\/p>\n

Ask any writer, how important is proofreading? He will simply say, \u201cIt\u2019s paramount.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, the codes written in the previous phase need to be proofread. Just think about it. What\u2019s a point of writing a code if it\u2019s proven invalid later? To avoid such scenarios, testing is crucial. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>During this phase, a dedicated team tests for the website\u2019s cross-browser compatibility. It is done to ensure that a website is optimized and supported by the latest browsers. Stress is generally given on input fields, login and sign up areas. <\/span><\/p>\n

The testing team tries to ensure the validity of a code. As long as the code is valid, the website aligns with the developmental standards. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Testing is usually conducted in five phases.<\/span><\/p>\n