Designing a website is more than just plugging in a code and hitting enter. While many people worry about the technicalities of building a site, there is far more than what meets the eye. Being able to plan, visualize, create and put into action an entire website takes innate skill, dedication and patience, in addition to understanding web code, web servers and graphics.
Still, many of our clients want to know what goes into the creation of a website. Why does it take so long? How many people are involved? Is building a website really that difficult?
Let’s explore the process of building a website so that you can understand what goes on behind the scenes.
Gathering Information
- Purpose: What is the purpose of your website? Is to provide information, promote a product or offer a service?
- Goals: What are the goals of your website? Most clients agree that their site is intended to share information, market their business and increase sales.
- Target Audience: What audience are you trying to reach? By understanding the demographics you’re appealing to, we can build a site that speaks to them.
- Content: What type of content will you be including on the site? Will you have a blog, newsletters or press releases?
Web Design
- Font: There are a number of web-safe fonts that can be used on your site. No matter which font is chosen, the goal is to select a font that is attractive, consistent and easy to read.
- Images: Standard images and background images must be chosen for your site. You have creative freedom here, as some websites use actual photos from their business and products, as well as high-quality photos and clip art.
Preparation
- Measurements: The design must be measured out to ensure that it will fit together cohesively. Good measurements to know include the main layout structure, the width and height of the left and right sides and the total width of everything together.
- Exportation: With the measurements in hand, we begin exporting the images, mostly in PNG and JPEG formats. Complicated images generally go with a JPEG format, while 24-bit PNG files are adequate for simpler images.
- Organization: When the images are exported, we will begin organizing the site. This is where we create scripts, images and CSS directories in your site’s root dictionary. We also create an index.html file in anticipation of development.
- Coding: Understanding the front-end of web development is key, and our web developers are familiar with writing valid HTML/CSS codes that comply to current web standards.
Testing and Delivery
- Delivery: After getting the approval from you – the client – we are then ready to deliver the site. Generally, an FTP program is used to upload the web files to your server. When the accounts are set up, we’ll go through one more trial of your site to ensure that everything is working cohesively.
Once your site is built, you can count on the SEMGeeks team to make the most of your site by optimizing it with SEO and content or marketing it through PPC campaigns.
