Nov
08
2016
Know The Alaskan Web Development Process
In all my years of Alaskan web design, the only times where there has been friction is when clients were unfamiliar or had erroneous beliefs about the PROCESS of the building the website. The basic fact is that unless you are a web designer or web developer, or have worked with them before, you couldn’t possibly know what to expect about timelines, money, and so on.
The main thing that you need to know is that web design and development is a team effort between the developer and client. It’s why when I meet with clients I am sure to go over things in great detail, and maintain constant communication.
- Here’s what my process looks like
- Here’s when target dates are
- Here’s ABOUT how much time/cost based on goals
- Here are reasons for delays
Alaskan web design is not inexpensive, and knowing what to expect will make you feel better and getting an awesome website and not getting ripped off. Here are the 3 phases of web development.
1 – Website Background info & Planning
The Planning stage is about creating a road map for what the website wants to accomplish.
- Goals and purpose: what are you trying to accomplish?
- Target audience: who are you building this site for?
- Content: what type of content will audience be looking for, and who will produce that content (you, developer, third party)?
- Time: establishing time lines and flow chart
- Site map: develop list of main topics for website
- Platform: is the site being built on Wordpress, Drupal, self hosted, etc.?
- Target: set goals for completion dates for various stages
As you can see, before even starting simply designing the website a lot of information and ideas need to be established. Note that depending on pricing structure, it is not uncommon for a final quote to be given somewhere mid-way through on completion of the Planning stage.
2 – Web Design & Development
The design stage is the area where regular communication becomes extremely crucial, so that when the site is coded (developed) it will fit your needs.
- Visual: what look and feel are you going for (should be for target audience)?
- Work on establishing color schemes and layout style.
- Perhaps build prototype “pictures” of what each page will look like – though doing this can be overkill for some sites if the visual expectations are extremely clear
- Approval: give a “go” to style/prototypes from web design
- Coding: when the functional and graphic expectations are well established, the site will begin being developed
- Edits: If prototypes were built, there will probably be very little changes to site as it is built; if no prototypes, the actual web development will be more collaborative
3 – Website Testing & Maintenance
Testing is all about getting rid of bugs, inconsistencies, and making final changes if needed.
- Debug: make sure no bugs are present in website functionality, compatibility issues (such as in different web browsers)
- Live: website will be loaded to a server and will go live
- Upload files: Developer may do this if established ahead of time, or “train” you how to do it
- Training: Generally developers will train you how to make changes to your site (such as adding content) and upload new content
- Maintenance: decide going forward in the future if you will continue to work together for future changes and or bugs that arise on the site as new technologies are developed