Like building a new home, website development involves numerous steps and stages. Some, such as design and content development, are easily observed—much like exterior features and paint on a house. Other steps, such as SEO and functionality integration, are rarely seen by the client or user. However, their invisibility doesn’t mean they’re irrelevant. Would you want to live in a home without plumbing or an electrical system?
Each step of the website development process ensures that the final product meets business goals and user expectations. Since many small business owners aren’t familiar with the process of designing and building a new website, we thought we would share a peek behind the scenes.
Step 1: Define value proposition and target audience
We begin every website development process by defining the value proposition and target audience—regardless of whether the client is a brand-new business or porting content from an old site. We’ve learned from experience that most businesses have ideas about their target customer and value proposition, but it’s rare that these have been codified in a small business. Writing them out helps to bring everyone within the company on the same page, ensuring a consistent customer experience and a website that accurately represents the business.
The value proposition articulates the problem your business solves best for its target customer, as well as the way you do that better than your competitors. Identifying the target audience involves creating detailed user personas that highlight the demographics, preferences, and behaviors of your customers and prospects. Successfully completing this foundational work heavily influences the site’s design, content, and functionality.
Step 2: Clarify branding
Branding is integral to establishing a cohesive and recognizable online presence. If you have a complete brand guide, we’ll design the site to match your existing brand. More commonly, small businesses have a logo and some components, but they lack a complete brand identity. A brand guide includes the core logo, logo variations, icons, typography, color palette, imagery style, and tone of voice. By designing the website to conform with the brand guide, we ensure that all elements reflect the brand’s identity and resonate with the target audience.
Step 3: Create moodboards
Moodboards serve as a visual tool to convey the overall aesthetic and emotional tone of the website. These includes images, color swatches, typography samples, icon styles, and other design elements that represent the look and feel. We typically prepare at least three moodboards for clients to choose between; the selected moodboard acts as a reference throughout the development process, ensuring that all design decisions align with the intended style.
Step 4: Develop the sitemap and draft all copy
The sitemap outlines the structure and hierarchy of the website. It’s a spreadsheet that lists all the pages, providing a clear overview of the site’s navigation. A well-structured sitemap facilitates easy navigation and helps users find information quickly.
Each page listed in the sitemap has a designated document link where we draft and edit copy. The copy is heavily influenced by the work we completed in step one. We also write metadata for each page, optimized for the client’s desired search queries.
Step 5: Development sprint
Once all of the pieces are ready to go, it’s time to start building out the site. We develop exclusively in WordPress, using Elementor as our page builder of choice. During the sprint, our developer translates all of the design documents into a beautiful, user-friendly, accessible, and optimized site that’s mobile-compatible. We also integrate any third-party apps, WordPress plugins, and APIs that may be needed for the specific project.
Step 6: Quality assurance testing
Before the client sees the first version of the website, our entire design team performs quality assurance testing. We look at every page to ensure it’s complete, all copy and images are in place, links and forms are functioning as they should, and any special features are working.
Step 7: Present to the client
Once we’re satisfied with the first version of the site, we present it to the client during a live call. Together, we walk through each page and feature, discussing how things came together and what needs to change. In this initial presentation, we often use placeholder images so that the client can decide whether any stock photos are the right look.
Step 8: Final updates and launch
After incorporating feedback and making some additional design refinements, we provide the client with one additional review round before the site goes live. Once the client is happy with the full site, we’re ready for launch. Launching a website involves deploying the site to the hosting server, configuring DNS settings, and a final round of testing to ensure everything is working correctly. Once the site is live, ongoing monitoring and maintenance keep it running smoothly and securely.
And that’s a wrap—the website development process is now complete!
Find the perfect partner for your new website
At Brighter Messaging, we create websites that serve as the central hub of your online presence by driving organic traffic, converting site visitors into inbound leads, and providing a credible representation of your business. Whether you’re launching a new site or updating an existing one, our team is ready to offer the expertise and support you need. Reach out to us today to discover more about our services and how we can help you achieve online success.
