My Process for Building a Website From Start to Launch
Every website project is different, but having a process makes things much easier.
It gives both the developer and the client a clear idea of what happens next.
1. Requirements
First, I want to understand the project.
What does the business need? What pages are required? What features are needed? Are there any integrations?
2. Planning
Once the requirements are clear, I plan the website structure.
I think about pages, navigation, content hierarchy and the main user journeys.
3. Content and Assets
The next step is gathering the things the website actually needs.
Logo, images, text, business information, product information and other assets.
4. Design
The goal isn't simply to make the website look good.
The design should make information easy to understand and important actions easy to find.
5. Development
Once the direction is clear, I start building.
During development, I focus on responsiveness, performance, maintainability and the actual functionality required by the project.
6. Testing
I test:
- Desktop layouts
- Tablet layouts
- Mobile layouts
- Forms
- Buttons
- Links
- Navigation
- Important user flows
7. Launch
Once everything has been checked, the website can go live.
8. Improvements
The website isn't necessarily finished after launch.
Real users provide information that you can't always get during development.
My Simple Formula
Requirements → Planning → Content → Design → Development → Testing → Launch → Improvement