Website Development 2022 – 9 Steps

Trends in website development are constantly changing. Web design methods are evolving, and ways to acquire clients online keep growing. When building websites, you need to answer many questions and plan every element so they properly fulfill their intended purpose. The process of creating business card sites, service presentation sites, and sales-oriented sites is completely different. There are many aspects worth considering, so in this post we’d like to describe all the elements worth thinking about when building a website yourself, as well as when ordering from an agency. Enjoy the read!

Table of Contents

1. How to create a website that sells?
2. Website development – step by step
3. Step 1. Building a user profile
4. Step 2. Competitor analysis
5. Step 3. Technical site plan
6. Step 4. Graphic concept
7. Step 5. Graphic design
8. Step 6. Content management
9. Step 7. Website coding
10. Step 8. Website deployment
11. Step 9. Administration and maintenance
12. Free website development?

How to create a website that sells?

One of the fundamental goals behind website development is sales. Typically, they aim to acquire new clients, increase brand awareness, and also convey information about services offered to all interested in establishing collaboration. Recent years have revealed many new trends in web design, and while many aren’t effective, by following a few principles, it’s possible to create an effective website that not only attracts traffic but also captures valuable contacts enabling consistent client acquisition. Throughout the entire website creation process, keep in mind the goal it’s meant to fulfill. This means the designer’s primary concern should be accurately and clearly formulating the message.

In most cases, it’s not about building the most beautiful website that catches the eye.

The main assumption is usually reaching the audience and creating a cohesive brand vision while conveying information about offered services or products. It’s important to properly guide the user through the website content, showing descriptions and graphic representations of what the site offers. They should understand exactly what the company has to offer and the quality of its services. Many people make one of two fundamental mistakes:

1. They try to build the most beautiful website on the internet,
2. They simply try to create a website – the most basic and cheapest one possible.

But that’s not the point. The first steps – building a user profile, competitor analysis, and a technical site plan – these determine whether the portal will succeed and stand out from millions of other sites available online. Statistics show that as content providers, we have just two seconds to capture the visitor’s interest. After that, they typically leave the site and look for answers to their questions elsewhere. When building a website, the most important thing is that it’s professional and coherently and clearly communicates the main business message. What is that message? That’s exactly the question you need to answer at the very beginning.

step by step

Website Development

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Market Analysis

Every project starts with a market and competitor analysis to understand industry standards and expectations. Based on this, we select the right tone of communication, visual style, and strategic direction.

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Strategy

We thoroughly analyze industry specifics and leverage the client’s expertise to select solutions aligned with business goals. We design the content strategy and site structure so it’s effective and SEO-friendly from the start.

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Graphic Design

We develop a custom layout tailored to the brand, industry, and business goals. The design is discussed in detail and refined before development, ensuring full alignment with the company’s image and identity.

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Development

We transfer the approved design into WordPress or implement it in code — depending on the project requirements. We also help with domain selection and hosting configuration.

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Optimization

We boost site performance and implement full analytics using professional tools. After completing the work, we train your team on site management so they can independently manage content and monitor results.

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Administration

After launch, you can entrust us with ongoing site maintenance: WordPress updates, security, monitoring, and content editing support. You hand over the maintenance to us while the site stays reliable, secure, and fully operational.

Step 1. Building a user profile

At the very beginning of the website creation process, you need to build what we call a user profile. Whether you’re designing yourself or an agency is doing it for you, this should always be the starting point. You need to give this model customer a name, age, social profile, and also specify their interests, habits, and behaviors. The longer the description, the more precisely content and technical layout can be tailored to what potential clients might expect during a website visit. Basic information like “a young person looking for business ideas” is definitely not enough. It’s much better to think like this:
“The model audience member is Anna. Anna is 25 years old and recently graduated from college. She spent five years studying and has just (full of enthusiasm and ideas) started looking for a way to direct her career. She spends most of her online time on her phone. When searching online, she browses many sites quickly, switching tabs and viewing several at the same time. Anna likes specific and precise information, and she verifies all her doubts by browsing social media and forums. For Anna, a collaborator’s Google profile is very important – she checks business listings and reviews, and ultimately prefers phone contact over sending an email and waiting for a response.”

And so on and so forth… Every aspect counts. A properly prepared user profile allows analyzing how content should be developed and arranged on the site so that Anna is satisfied and quickly finds what matters most to her. With the knowledge described above, the message should be tailored so that:

1. The company’s Google Business Profile is properly prepared with many photos, posts, reviews, and specifies the business location, website address, and phone number – so Anna can call and ask about all aspects of collaboration.
2. Social media profiles should be active and engaging, with links placed visibly on the website.
3. Content and graphic design should be optimized for mobile devices, and content should be tailored for quick and precise answers to all questions. The message should be clear and concise.
4. The site should be simple and engaging from the first moments. After all, Anna switches sites quickly and as content creators, we have just two seconds to capture her attention.
5. In the contact details, it’s worth including primarily clickable phone links and quick contact forms.

This is a very simple example that shows the fundamental factor determining the analysis needed to build a professional website is precisely building a user profile.

Step 2. Competitor analysis

Before starting technical work on the site, one more analysis should be considered – competitor analysis. Website development is a process that began many years ago. Every industry already has competition, and you can certainly list at least several companies that have their own portal and advertise in the surrounding area. The quality of their websites sets a certain standard – a bar that needs to be raised so that the website being built stands out from the competition and becomes the potential client’s first choice. A very good practice is to type a search phrase you’d like to advertise for into a search engine and examine the first paid and organic results, answering several basic questions:

1. How is the message crafted?
2. What information is conveyed to the visitor?
3. What is the content layout?
4. How many subpages are there?
5. What is the graphic concept of the site?
6. What contact methods are offered?
7. How is the visitor guided during their site visit?

All these factors will help build a vision of the technical layout for the website being built, and thus answer whether the bar has been set high and what quality to expect from the final result.

Step 3. Technical site plan

All the elements described above form the foundation – an introduction and technical preparation for beginning website design. Knowing who the portal is being built for, what the audience expects, and what information they need to feel served and get answers to all their questions. This will help build interest in collaboration and take the first step – establishing contact. Step three – the technical site plan – can help with all this. UX (as this area of design is called) is the art of crafting user experiences. Website development is not just the process of designing and implementing a site’s look. It’s the process of preparing a portal so that the potential client’s journey through its content is smooth and tailored to their needs. To visualize this journey, wireframes are very often used. These are boards showing the technical content layout on the page – planning buttons, content, and graphics without needing to create or design them.

Step 4. Graphic concept

The definitely most enjoyable part (in our opinion) is graphic design. This is the moment when the typical audience is already known, along with their views, the competition, and the technical content layout. It’s time for graphic design. A very good practice is comprehensively creating all subpages before implementation. This way, every aspect of the portal can be analyzed before deployment. This approach allows catching all errors and fixing them at the design stage. The graphic concept involves analyzing different graphic styles, finding the right color palette and type of graphics to use. Completely different graphics will be used for a medical clinic website than for a home construction company. The brand’s color scheme should meet brand book expectations, and online tools like Adobe Color can help design the right palette.

Step 5. Graphic design

After developing the graphic concept, the company already knows the general conceptual outline. The graphic character, palette, graphic style, and elements of visual representation are already defined. The next step is creating graphic designs for individual views. Every subpage and tab should be designed to maintain a consistent and complete vision of brand representation. A good idea is to use tools that allow prototyping. Such a design allows very close replication of the final result with the ability to add interactivity to buttons and design the entire user journey on the site. The final result of graphic work is a set of mockups and views ready for implementation by the development team.

Step 6. Content management

Beyond the graphic representation aspect, it’s worth also thinking about the content management method. If the website content is relatively static and won’t change often, or changes will be made by the agency, consider forgoing a content management panel (admin panel). This streamlines implementation work and allows for improved quality and speed of the target site. This choice also provides the ability to use any programming language and framework. If, however, the site will have a blog or its content will undergo constant changes, it should be equipped with a content management panel. The world’s most popular CMS is WordPress. Over 30% of all websites are connected to this system. If for some reason WordPress isn’t the right choice, there’s also the option of writing a custom panel – a dedicated solution for large sites that need many custom features.

Step 7. Website coding

After approving the graphic design and deciding on the content management system, website development moves to the actual phase – writing source code. The previous 6 steps gave the development team a complete vision of the portal and a full set of content, graphics, and elements to use. A package prepared this way definitely streamlines the process, which should always be entrusted to developers who know website coding. This is the most important step affecting the site’s performance, speed, and search engine rating. The quality of the final site is one of the factors determining advertising costs and organic positioning speed.

Step 8. Website deployment

After completing the implementation, the entire portal needs to be properly tested. During website development, errors and omissions appear that can affect the finished product’s functionality. The most important elements to consider include:

1. Links,
2. HTTPS redirects,
3. Scripts,
4. Image connections,
5. Navigation menu links,
6. Links to maps, forms, and social media,
7. CRM system integrations, analytical and marketing tools.

After ensuring the product is ready and complete, the portal should be deployed to the target server and domain. During this process, remember to recheck all links, since if the site address changes during deployment, there’s a high chance that references to the test version remain somewhere in the code. After deployment, the product is ready and you can proceed to staff training and launching advertising campaigns directing to the domain.

Step 9. Administration and maintenance

The creation process itself is just the first step. There are billions of websites online, and leaving a created portal unattended is like planting a tree in a forest. The chance of it being noticed is small, and without effort, it will be forgotten and won’t be an effective tool for acquiring clients. The most important thing is proper administration and maintenance through effective digital marketing. Running a blog, SEO, paid search results, and advertising help bring the right traffic to the site and reach the appropriate target audience with your message.

Free website development?

Today, there are many tools that allow you to build a website yourself using various builders. I hope that throughout this article, we’ve effectively explained why this usually isn’t the best solution for a business. The process of professional website development is a key element of online client acquisition. It’s the most important aspect of online visibility and serves as a gateway for traffic acquisition. If content isn’t properly selected and the site isn’t properly optimized, loading time and quality may leave much to be desired. Remember that as content creators, we have just two seconds to effectively capture the audience’s attention. That’s precisely why only carefully crafted content and a comprehensive website development process give a chance for an online website presence to become an effective tool for acquiring traffic and building trust among potential clients.

ATTENTION – SPECIAL OFFER!

If you’re looking for an agency to guide you through the website development process and create a portal that sells, feel free to contact us! For the first 10 people who reach out, we offer a 10% discount on website development and the first month of digital marketing at no charge. Additionally, for the first five people, we’ll provide $125 to use on Google Ads advertising.

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