At first glance, it's enough to have a good idea, some content and a good CMS, such as WordPress, to make a website. In reality, web development is much more complex than you might think. This article will give you an overview of the steps involved in creating a website. Check the list to make sure you have not forgotten anything!
1. Define the goals of your website
Why do you want to create a website? It is important to define your goal so that you can choose the technical solution that best suits your needs. For a simple blog, a WordPress page will be enough, but if you want to make an e-commerce site, look WooCommerce or PrestaShop. It goes without saying that you will also need to set up a payment system and install the SSL certificate to secure transactions. In short, you need to clearly define the goals of your website to know what features to put in place.
2. Define the content of your website
The content of your website has two objectives: to please your audience and to position your website in the search engines. To do this, it is not enough, or even it is not advisable to put keywords everywhere. Google's algorithms easily detect over-optimized content multiplying keywords. There are, in addition, dozens of other factors that impact the SEO of a website: the quality of the code, the tags "Title" and "Meta Description", incoming links, the structure and size of the site ... Contrary to what we can imagine, SEO has many technical aspects. Good communication is only a small part of it.
3. Prepare the mock-ups of the website
In the case of a complex website, which has dozens of pages, it is important to think about its structure to make it as simple as possible. Ideally, the user should be able to access any page of your site in maximum two clicks. Take a pencil and draw a plan for your future site. Without going into the details of its design such as logo or text, try to define your main pages and see how they will be linked together. To do this you can also use some simple prototyping tools.
4. Now let's go to the web design
Now that you have defined the structure of the future website, it is time to focus more on its visual aspects. Let's not overlook that this is extra than just a "visually pleasing" website. Positively, all its basics must meet the necessities of the UX. Air the pages. It is better to put too few elements than too much. Enlarge the texts so they are readable even on small screens. A good UX also respects the design trends and, most importantly, user habits. To understand what I mean, go to Facebook, G + and Twitter. Note that they all place the main menu at the top of the screen. We do not always think about it, but as a user, we expect to find it right here. Trying to impose another way of navigating your visitors may make you impatient or even lose them.
5. It's finally time to publish your website
After the tests, finally comes the moment to launch your website. In the majority of cases, all you have to do is click on "Publish". You will then have to wait a few days before Google's bots browse your site to index it to the search engine.
However, you can do better than that! Start preparing to launch your site a few weeks before D-Day. You can write a press release and prepare a list of contacts (journalists, bloggers, entrepreneurs) to which you will send it. Also, think of finding groups on social networks where you can share the URL of your website.
6. Every website must be mobile friendly
Google's algorithm gives priority to adaptive websites, that is, adapted for mobile devices. Any SEO expert will tell you: it is difficult, if not impossible, to position your website in the search engine if it is not thought mobile friendly. Emphasize this point during your discussions with developers to be sure they have not forgotten this aspect so important to the success of your project.
7. Test, test, and test again
Errors happen quite often in web development. Even if you hire the best developers to create your website, you can not be sure that it works perfectly without having done the necessary tests. Remember to test how it works at the end of each development phase, not just when the job is done.
Do not hesitate to ask for help from outside the project. By looking at your website every day, you've probably lost your critical eye. A new user will only need a few minutes to detect something that is wrong ... like that, completely by chance.
8. Write the code
The project is now ready. It is finally time to implement it! If you have no web development knowledge, you can still create a simple website with CMS such as WordPress or Joomla. There are also services that can make a basic website in just a few clicks, but they are not suitable for more complex projects. They also do not leave the field free to creativity: you will only have a predefined template to fill which you can possibly change some parameters like colors and fonts. If you want more freedom, a web developer or a digital agency will better meet your needs.
It is advisable to ask for a quote from several professionals. You will be amazed at how different the proposals may be for the same project. However, large price differences sometimes indicate a problem with the specifications. If it is not detailed enough, professionals may interpret your needs differently.
9. Develop a digital marketing strategy
If you want to make a website for private use or for your personal pleasure, forget this point. For a corporate website, however, you will have to think about developing a digital marketing strategy. Sharing content on social networks is the bare minimum to give you visibility. Finally, do not forget the link building if you want to position your website in the search engines.
10. Analyze the results and improve your website
Do you remember the first point on this list? Define the goals of your website. Now, it's time to take a critical look at your project. From the first week after launching the site, analyze the results obtained. Google Analytics will tell you everything. What is the organic traffic of your website? Have you managed to generate some leads? Do you have new users? Do not be discouraged if the first results do not live up to your expectations. Promoting a website is not easy and takes a lot of time.
The key is to continually improve your website ... Analyze the behavior of your users to understand their needs. Perhaps a more direct presentation of your services on the homepage would allow them to better understand what you are doing? Maybe they want to contact you, but they can not find your contact information? While it is difficult to take a critical look at one's own project, it is the real key to success.
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