Steps to a Successful Website

What are the necessary stages to launching a successful website?

Whether you are rebranding an existing site or launching an entirely new one, there are several stages to go through from concept to go live.

Understanding what these steps are and how long they are likely to take will help you to manage the design and build process, and produce a successful site on schedule and in budget.

User Experience (UX)

A term you will increasingly hear regarding web design is User Experience (or UX). This is a valuable process which should happen early in the project. UX is about identifying your users and their goals, and then designing the site with those specific goals in mind. The aim is to make it as easy as possible for your users to realise their goals, and for your site to serve your business goals.

The UX process can take anywhere from a few days to a month or more. It is tailored to your site and your needs. It will include the production of a number of wireframes (skeleton sketches of your site structure), The idea behind this is to allow for rapid prototyping and iterations - without the cost of extensive design work.

Creative Design

Armed with a sitemap and wireframes from the UX consultancy, you can now produce visuals for your new site. Typically this will involve a meeting (either in person or over the phone) with one of our designers, who will go through a variety of questions, options and examples with you. We will produce a Design Brief document, detailing all of your choices, your likes, dislikes, must-haves and branding information. Together with the UX documents, this will be used to guide the design process. There can be many iterations to the design process, so this process can take from a few weeks to 2-3 months - sometimes even longer.

Design Integration

Once the wireframes and visuals are all signed off the design integration can begin. Our integrators will take your designs and write the code necessary to turn them into a web site. The initial integration process will usually take between 1-4 weeks, depending on the size and complexity of the site, whether or not it is responsive, etc.

Testing

After the first pass of design integration there will be a testing period. This will validate the html and css used, ensure usability, and test the site across a range of browsers and devices (as specified in the design brief). There will follow a period of 'snagging' where any errors, bugs or unexpected glitches are identified and resolved. This can take anything from one day to several weeks.

Site Build

When the integration is complete and the bugs ironed out, you can begin building your site, filling it with all the goodies you dreamed up during the UX process. Some further bugs might become apparent once the site takes shape, and these will be addressed. Our project specialists will be on hand to help you with any problems or uncertainties as you build your website.

Go Live

Congratulations! Your new site can now go live.