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15Apr

An Absolute Checklist for Website Design and Development Project

In today’s competitive marketplace, having a digital presence is not enough to win the game. To engage real human readers and to capitalize on an opportunity, it is imperative to have a functional, optimized and interactive website. Presently, the internet is swarming with websites that miss both, good content and eye-catching design. However, developers and clients, both are yet contributing to the current outbreak of design negligence in equal measure.

Now, it is high time to get your website designed better than your competitor. Do you want to create a brand new website that best describes your business? Or whether it’s about redesigning your present website that is not up to the market standards? 

Follow this Website Development Checklist.

The most common question everyone faces initially- What do you need to build a website?

You certainly already have a rough idea about it but everyone needs some meaningful steps to simplify complicated projects i.e. a Website Design and Development Checklist. I love checklists.

If you want to leave no room for errors or miss any crucial step, an organized roadmap is a must.

Consider This

You would never want to find out that the advanced features and custom website designs you have spent on, don’t work for your target audience. You would never want to buy tools and features you won’t end up using. Don’t self-sabotage yourself and your website without considering a perfect Website Design Checklist for your kickoff. So, to cut all the guesswork out of building your website, you must surely need to refer to this checklist for your next website design and development plan.

Related Article

Top Signs when you should Hire Custom Web Development Company to Redesign Current Website!

Table of Content

1. Information Gathering L Preparation And Client Requirements

The very first step in developing and designing a successful website is to gather a solid understanding of the company it is created for.

You must have a definitive Q&A discussion before a Website Development Plan starts off. Like-

  • What kind of information will the target audience be looking for on your site?
  • Who is going to be the “ideal” person (Target audience) you want to visit your web site?
  • What do you hope to achieve by building this web site?
  • Do you want to sell a product, promote a service, and provide information…? What is the purpose of the site?

Checklist

  1. Understand the target audience and brand, their demographics, and the way you want to communicate.
  2. Research the industry specifics and trends w.r.t. your competitors.
  3. Get quotations for estimated design work, content/copy, domain/hosting work with your designers, copywriters and so on.
  4. Collect all the data; establish your budget and send a great Website Design Plan and get the approval from client (if working for a client).

Need straight forward answers? Request a Quote.We Offer Hassle-Free Information!

2. Designing And Planning Strategic Website Structure

This is primarily about establishing the look and feel of your new website. All you need is a unique design!

Checklist

  • Brainstorming is essential when it comes to layout and marketing aspects with the help of following any graphic standards or written guidelines. 
  • Need Tips to Create Small Business Website Design following Latest Standards? 
  • In order to understand the functionality and attributes that may add value to your website list the URLs of other relevant websites you find compelling. More importantly identify your competitor’s URLs!
  • Choose content as per the requirement. It may contain many elements, such as:
  1. Navigation
  2. Color scheme
  3. Pop-up notifications
  4. Testimonials
  5. Blog articles
  6. Content feeds
  7. Landing pages
  8. Video
  9. Slider banner
  10. Widgets
  11. So on…
  • Add an amazing wireframe layout in your Website Design Strategy with page layout design guidelines including:
  1. Make a good balance between space, text and image.
  2. Use a consistent template on each page
  3. Use above the fold (1024*768) on the homepage to display your main front-end headlines and stories.
  4. Use effective vertical and horizontal navigation for interactive user experience
  5. Don’t forget to add contact details, privacy policies, quick links, and copyright on the footer of your website.
  6. Always use a consistent logo and side header.
  7. Make sure to add a search tab in an unobtrusive and easy to use way.

Pro tip

Space is about creating focal points for users so add a text or image surrounded by white space than at crammed locations.

Read More12 Key Advantages Of Responsive Web Design Services

3. Development, Content Integration, Coding And Hosting Website

All you need is a developer who can help you with code programming functionalities and managing substance for your website through content creation.

Checklist

  • Get a domain name that is your digital address to connect your website with the people.
  • Get a business email address with your website domain name.
  • Choose right web builder or website building software. You must be familiar with some popular software like, WordPress, Joomla, Weebly, Squarespace, Wix, etc.

Related : Top 5 WordPress Theme for your Business Website and Popularly Used Types Of Web Hosting One Must Know

  • Set up website hosting through creating databases, uploading website source files, change the nameservers of the domain, and configure/install the CMS to use the database you have created.
  • For setting up website content, you need to adhere to following elements :
  1. First of all ask yourself questions like- How often you are going to update your website? Will you be using outside content provider or be producing in-house content?
  2. Outline your vision for your website content.
  3. Add various content items as discussed in the Designing stage above.
  4. Add iconography with links to related social media details.
  5. For engaging articles or blogs, make them more informative, jargon free using info graphics, videos and images.
  6. Define excellent ‘Call to Action’ statement whenever needed.
  7. Request feedback, and change or fix any request by client.

4. Testing, Code Quality Assurance And Responsive/ Optimized User Experience

Apart from website’s being omnipresent, it must be compatible or renders properly with different devices and browsers. It is imperative to test a website and fixed fully before your website goes live. Elements need to be adhering to while testing phase are given below.

Checklist:

  • Validate CSS using this Html Validator, Validity for Chrome or CSS Validator.
  • Validate HTML using W3C HTML Validator or the preferred one.
  • Ensure that your marketing platform, e-commerce software, and/or CRM are running smoothly.
  • Check that load time for website pages is optimized.
  • Check whether the input types are correct for URL input form, phone and email.
  • Check whether 404 page and 404 redirect pages are in place.

Pro Tip

  • Try to make sure that Google sees your page as Mobile-Friendly and your website is mobile-friendly with at least a Mobile Ok score of 75.
  • Ensure Optimal User Experience Free From any Glitches and Errors.
  • Get Fully Responsive Website Designing Service. 

Want to Redesign your Existing Website? We are Just a Click Away!

5. Launch, Maintenance, Analytics, SEO and Marketing

At this phase the developer will shift your site to your hosting server from the development server. Now you will be ready to launch!

Checklist

  • Register your website with Google Webmasters aka Google Search Console.
  • Link your website and add new cover images to social media platforms.
  • Enable search engine and user friendly URLs.
  • Apply appropriate SEO tools and techniques. Or hire a SEO Consultant.
  • Make sure that every image has relevant Alt tags and all pages have metadata which is properly in place.
  • Implement website backup service, any site uptime monitor, visitor tracking software and website linking with Google Analytics.
  • All you need at last is- Feedback, Fixing and Repeat.

Checkout our work portfolios to get a glimpse of how we ideate, innovate, and create unconventional digital solutions according to the requirements of our clients.

Read More – Why Is Ongoing Website Maintenance Service Mandatory For Any Business Website?

Important Points To Look Into For Website Design And Development Checklist:

Quick Loading:

While searching for any product or service over Google, customers get 10 options in the first go. And, why would he wait for your website to load, when he will have 9 other options to get the same product or services. It is recommended to keep website loading time between 2s to 4s. The website with low response time does not get a place in the top of SERPs.

Read More – Let’s Speed Up Your Website Loading Smartly!

Mobile-Ready:

The revolution brought by mobile devices has made it vital for the companies to get Responsive Website Design. The open rate of websites in mobile devices has become quite high when compared to desktops and laptops. In order to beat the competition and stay ahead, it is important to have a response that can be accessed through any device without issues like disorientation of text or images.

Conversion Optimized:

Conversion optimized sites are in high demand these days and to cater to the needs of conversion-centric clients, companies need to design landing pages that can be utilized for campaigns. These designated pages contain the information desired by the client, along with call-to-action and offer details. For website developers, it has become important to integrate tools that aid in creating campaign landing pages. These pages could make users to simply subscribe, request a product description, make a purchase or schedule an appointment.

Tracking Enabled:

Analytics is crucial-it let you determine whether your website is offering what you expected, without any hassle. So, it is important for website developers to keep in mind that it must be easy for the client or their digital marketing team to add codes for Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Adwords and more. The final design should be such that functionality to gauge key performance indicators such as goals, conversions and traffic can be added seamlessly.

Excellent Hosting And Storage:

Developers need to set up flawless hosting and storage options for file and scripts. It is good to set up storage and hosting options as soon as possible. This aids in easily handling big scripts and technology that you employ. 

For instance, if you are utilizing Angular.js or React. js in your web development, then you will require a hosting that will allow you to install and run these JavaScript frameworks on the server.

Optimize For SEO:

It is not enough to optimize your website for humans; your website could only make you attain desired results if it is optimized for search engines. Along with integrating compelling design and informative content for users, it is also important include all on-page SEO tags, check website loading speed and use proper Meta robots for search engines.

SEO-friendly website designs are loved by Google-bots thereby increasing your chances of appearing in the top of SERPs.

Read More – How To Make Your Business More Productive With An Attractive Website

XML Sitemaps:

Generating and updating XML sitemap from time to time is also an imperative factor from SEO point of view. No matter, how compelling and responsive your website is, it will not be indexed in search engines without a sitemap. XML sitemap is a first file which search engine crawlers read when they come to any website. Without a sitemap, it becomes difficult for crawlers to crawl a website properly and hence the chances of your web pages getting indexed lowers down with a high rate.

Read More – Useful Tricks To Keep In Mind Before Launching A WordPress Website

Make sure that XML sitemap is present in your web design and development checklist. It is also important to note here that XML sitemap needs to be updated on a frequent basis to make sure that all the newly added pages of your website are getting indexed.

Email Marketing:

If you think that email marketing is dead, then you are wrong. With advanced tools like MailChimp, GetResponse, Hubspot and more, email marketing has become an effective marketing technique.

Thus, it is important for developers to make a list of requirements that are requisite during website development projects and devise tools for requirements like email marketing to reduce your efforts at a later stage. It is good to get website’s email capture forms synced with client’s email marketing tools to aid your client with seamless connection and access.

Read more – 21 Lead Magnets To Grow Your Email Subscribers 

Social Media:

To drive the attention of the audience towards your website, you have to utilize various social media platforms. Website designers can make it easy for clients to start promoting their site on social media platforms from the initial phase itself by integrating all relevant social media platform in their web design. Having social media buttons integrated on the website allow visitors to swiftly access your social media pages from the website and thus aids in building brand’s visibility.

Read More – How To Boost E-Commerce Sales With Instagram Marketing Strategies

Machine Learning And AI:

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are not the technologies of the future anymore. It has successfully made its path in our everyday vernacular and online experience. Therefore, it has become crucial for web developers and designers to bring these strategies into practice.

Platforms like Adobe’s Sensei are providing AI and machine learning tools to web design platforms across the globe, hence making AI and machine learning easily available and accessible resources.

This is all about the Website Design Checklist. Remember, it is crucial to work on what is trending if you want to remain ahead of your competitors.

If you want a detailed discussion on any of the above Website Development Checklist, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

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