Website Design & Development Process

When we work with our clients to design and develop a new website, we segment out the project into a few different phases. This process helps us and our clients stay organized and on top of every deadline along the way. Here’s what happens in each phase of a website project.

Project Strategy & Organization

After the project kicks off, we start organizing the content that will live on the site. The client shares the existing site and documents so we have a full picture of what will be communicated online. If there is not existing content, we spend time talking with the right contacts to get the information we need.

With all the content in a raw format, we pull together the overall sitemap and navigation for the new site. We do this by pulling out the most important content first and running through the different user journey scenarios.

With the sitemap as our guide, we create wireframes to outline what will live on the key pages of the website. In this phase, the copy doesn’t have to be final. Instead, we are just adding in the topic and where on the page it will appear.

This information is all shared with our client, and we make edits as needed, then mark this phase as approved.

Design

In the design phase, the site begins to come to life with visuals. We mock up key pages of the website to see how everything will look and work. This usually includes the homepage, a service/offering page and any template pages that will be seen throughout the site. Often, many elements that appear on one page will show up in other places for consistency across the entire site.

Copywriting & Content Collection

While the design mocks are taking shape, we are also working on the content that will live on the site. Sometimes the content for the website already lives on an existing site, sometimes we are writing all of the copy and other times the client is writing the copy for all of the pages. During the copy and content collection phase, we make sure every page and section has copy written. We are also collecting photos and videos that will live on each page.

Creating all content early makes the development process go smoother since we know what will live where.

Web Development

Once the design mocks are approved, we move into web development. We like to call this our “heads down work time.” Our development team brings the site to life on WordPress as our content management system. During this time, every page is built and optimized.

Review

Both our team and our client take a look through every page and piece of content on the new website. Once we have final approval, we select a date to launch the site.

Launch

Our favorite day is launch day! We send the new site live, replacing the old website. Our team is always around for edits after launch.

Training

After the new site launches, we provide tutorials to anyone who will be updating the site. A website is always most effective when it can be easily updated with new information.