6 Steps in the Process of Creating a Web Designer – Web Designer in designing always focuses on technical matters such as wireframes, code, and content management. However, a good web designer has a correct and orderly design process. A well-designed website will attract visitors and help people understand product, company and branding through various indicators that include visuals, text and other interactions. Every element in website design must have a purpose that considers form and function.
For me, designing a website takes 6 steps:
- Planing: The designer will determine the purpose of the website with the client, the features needed to run the website, SEO content to increase the website’s ranking on search engines, and determine other visual elements.
- Sitemap and wireframe creation: sitemap outlines the structure of the pages that will make up the website and wireframing is the basis of a well-designed website.
- Design: At this stage, the web Designer will create a design mockup, layout, prototype website.
Development & Testing: At this stage, the Web Designer will do the coding to translate the mockup design into an actual web page. This should be the longest step because you will be testing after the website is finished and before the website goes public, this testing process is called a beta tester. - Lunch: At this stage the website has completed the Development & Testing process, so the website will be published to the internet.
- Maintenance: The maintenance stage is the final stage of creating a website, at this stage the website will be checked weekly such as: file & database backup, improve backlinks, improve visitors, bug checker, health checker, improve SEO, Domain & Hosting.
The process of making a web design in brief, let’s explain the steps for creating a website.
1. Planing
The designer will determine the purpose of the website with the client, the features needed to run the website, SEO content to increase the website’s ranking on search engines, and determine other visual elements.
Just like gathering information, the website design planning step is an important part of any new website launch. As a designer, it’s easy to want to jump right into the design step, because that’s the most creative (and fun) part of a project. Ultimately, however, research and planning will help clarify your goals for the website and guide your design, so spend a lot of time in this stage. spending time on website planning is a great investment that will ultimately save you time and even money in the long run.
During the planning stage Web Designer, you should review or create an SEO strategy for your website. Because websites often organize a lot of information into user-friendly formats, this is also a good time to find out what content is missing before you start building your website. The planning phase also helps clients understand the deadline for this website project so that the launch process is not delayed.
2. Sitemap and wireframe creation
A sitemap is an outline of the page structure that will make up a website and Wireframing is the foundation of a well-designed website.
After working on an SEO strategy, it is time to create a website sitemap. A sitemap is basically an outline of the page structure that will make up your website. Planning a sitemap before working on any website design has several advantages as you can make the design around the pages precise, plan the navigation of the sitemap more efficiently, and get an overview of the content to be written.
Building a site without a sitemap is like building a house without a blueprint / interior design. And it rarely works.
The next step is to find some design inspiration and build a wireframe mockup. Wireframes provide a framework for storing the visual design and content elements of a site, and can help identify potential sitemap gaps.
Even though a wireframe does not contain the final design elements, it still serves as a guide on how the website will ultimately look. It can also act as inspiration for formatting various elements on the website. Some designers use tools like Balsamiq or Webflow to create their wireframes. I personally like to use paper and pencil to make wireframes.
Read More : 10 Best Restaurant Logos for your inspiration
3. Design
The designer will create a mockup design, layout, website prototype.
The third step of the web design process is designing how the website will look. In this step, the website wireframe is created with basic web page elements like header, navigation, widgets, etc. The wireframe can then be transferred to a more realistic mockup using a program such as Photoshop.
“A good website design has a balance of form and function. To create a website design, you can use all the data / information that you have collected in planning. A good website designer always thinks about every design decision that is made. ”
Design should also think about SEO content. Content often breaks the design, and the end content is made very little to make the design look clean and elegant. Website content is the number one thing visitors pay attention to. For every website design, always prioritize what is the purpose of this website? Is the design seen by visitors without having to reduce the purpose of the website? And do visitors know the purpose of this website is made to produce the desired action?
Good web designers also remember how the design will translate into code. Even if you are not developing yourself, as a designer, it is better to ask the developer to review the design before it is accepted by the client.
Finally, confirm the design with the client before proceeding to the developer.
4. Development & Testing
The web designer will do the coding and translate the mockup design into a web page that is ready for publishing. This should be the longest step because you will be testing after the website is finished and before the website goes public, this testing process is called a beta tester.
The development phase starts after the final design is approved by the client. At this stage in the project, all that’s left to do is set up the domain / hosting and get the website code. There is not too much work for the client to do other than approve the final live site, but we still want to give you a lot of information so you can find out the speed.
This is the most technical part of development, so we’ll cover some of the essentials of website development:
Create a work list, in order to facilitate development and checking of client projects
A good hosting and domain setup for a fast and good website on the internet
Install a Content Management System, for this we tend to recommend with Laravel or WordPress.
Build responsive templates, this is important because Google indexes content designed to be responsive on all devices and makes the website work well for users on all devices.
Create a database, and custom columns for content uploaded in a CMS (eg WordPress or Laravel) to be dynamic.
Filling in website content, the website will contain content that has been approved by the client and is based on search engine SEO rules
Optimize the code, this increases the speed of the site, which is great for SEO. For example by minimizing CSS and JavaScript, we can increase website speed.
Cross-browser and device testing, we test that the website works flawlessly on all browsers, such as Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Edge or Firefox, as well as across devices, including desktop, tablet and mobile (iOS and Android).
User testing, we invite a small group of users to our test lab for feedback, build a bug list, and discuss any changes with the client.
Once the site has all the visuals and content, you’re ready to test it.
Thoroughly test each page to make sure all links are working and the website opens properly on all devices and browsers. The error may be caused by a minor coding error, and although it can be difficult to find and fix it, it is better to do it now than to present a broken website to the public.
“I highly recommend Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider at this stage. It allows you to perform multiple standard auditing tasks in one tool, and up to 500 URLs are free. ”
Also look for the last time the page title and meta description. Even the word order in the meta title can affect the performance of the page in search engines.
5. Lunch
The website has completed the Development & Testing process, so the website will be published on the internet.
Now it’s time for the favorite part of creating a website, when everything has been thoroughly tested, and the client is satisfied with the results of the website, it’s time to publish the website.
Don’t get your hopes up for this to go perfectly. There may still be some elements that need fixing. A skilled designer should be well versed in this concept and be able to create a site that goes between the two.
One important thing to remember about the launch phase is that it is not near the end of the work. “The beauty of the web is that it’s never finished”. Once your website is live, you can continue to run maintenance on new content and features, monitor analytics, and improve your website.
6. Maintenance
The maintenance stage is the final stage of creating a website, at this stage the website will be checked weekly such as: file & database backup, improve backlinks, improve visitors, bug checker, health checker, improve SEO, Domain & Hosting.
Mousmedia provides SEO & Website Maintenance services so if you feel there is no time to maintain the website at any time, we also provide website creation services. If interested please click this link :).
