Website Design, Website Development

Seven essential steps in effective website design and development

Designing a company website is no job for amateurs. There is a complex process involved which follows 7 major stages:

1. Establishing immediate and long-term site goals and objectives
2. Site definition & planning
3. Information architecture
4. Site design
5. Site construction
6. Site marketing
7. Tracking, evaluation & maintenance.

Web design firms often get lost in the ‘creative’ side of developing websites. They skip essential steps in the overall site development process outlined above, and lose sight of the strategic purpose of good web design, not to mention the practical needs of businesses and their customers.

So the next time you make contact with a web design consultant for your upcoming online project, pay attention not only to their design ideas, but also to the hands-on manner in which they propose to manage that project. Test their understanding of your strategic marketing and business goals, and how they propose to help you meet them.