To build an effective website you need to have a plan in place that allows you structure and gives your client a sense of direction as the website begins to be built. Here are the key steps to follow for a website:
- Sitemap Development
- Wireframing
- Content Curation
- Design Mockups
- Development within the chosen platform
- User Testing
- Launching the Site
Sitemap Development
This step allows you and the user to begin thinking about how the website will be structured. What will the main navigation be and the drop-down items underneath the main navigation? What is the path the user should follow? These questions should be answered in your sitemap and will give you and the client a better understanding of the main goal of the website.
Wireframing
Wireframing allows you to get an idea of what is going to be placed on the page before getting into design. This allows for a basic structure that says “here is where a photo goes and text will go here.” This is not meant to be highly designed. Think of this as a sketch to get started.
Content Curation
Once you have the wireframe laid out you will have a sense of the kind of text you will need and how much you will need. If the site already exists and you are redesigning it then you will want to go through the content that already lives on the website and decide what is still relevant and what can be taken out. If you are a new site or an existing site you will want to go through and start developing new copy that is relevant to the topic. This will include making sure your user really understands the purpose of your website and having lead in the text that pushes the user down a path.
Design Mockups
So you have your wireframe and you have your content. Now it’s time to design! In this phase, you will develop design mockups in Photoshop or Illustrator so that you and the user can begin to see what the website is really going to look like. This will include creating a color palette, choosing your fonts, starting to develop a style guide that includes H1 tags etc. There should be several mockups designed including:
- Homepage
- 2 secondary pages
- 3 Tertiary pages
This will allow you to really get a sense of how a user will move through the website and how different pages will connect even with different elements.
Development
Now that you know what your site is going to look like it’s time to start developing. Based on your design mockups a developer can take those and begin writing the HTML and CSS code needed to start creating your site. This will allow you to have everything you need when creating a new page from scratch or using your mockups as templates on the website.
User Testing
This is a very important step. You want to make sure all the hard work that you put in is going to work. By testing different users you can see where there are gaps or if anything is confusing. This will allow you to get buy-in before launching the site. Based on the user testing you should make any adjustments that are necessary that help your end result.
Launch
Now that you’ve gone through all these steps it’s time to launch your site! Don’t forget just because you’ve launched the site doesn’t mean you never have to touch it again. You should be constantly updating your site with relevant content as needed.
Alyssa Montoya Designs 