So you’re planning to develop a website? Great choice, but remember that the development process is going to be a long and bumpy ride. The journey begins with hiring a professional Chicago web development agency, taking a domain name and moves towards a lot more. We understand the complex process and hence we’ve broken it down into three parts.
Each phase can be focused on intensely as part of the whole.
1. Research
2. Planning
3. Designing
4. Development and Coding
5. Testing and Launch
Research
So, as you know that web development Chicago begins with research, make sure to do it well. Before jumping into a new project, make sure to learn as much as you can about the goals and wants of the target audience. If you are going to build online presence of an already established business, then this step may be easier, but if you’re new to the industry then you need to know everything regarding the industry, business and the target audience. This will give you a better insight into what you want your site to convey to the target audience. Make sure to do your research before hiring a Chicago web development agency.
Planning
This is basically the beginning of conceptualizing the information and ideas you collected from the first phase. It will help you begin the site map of the site to make the website easy to understand for the visitors. If you think you have enough information to get a solid idea of the site, share it with the development company in a rough draft. During the planning phase, color palettes, fonts and other design details may start to emerge.
Design
This is pretty important step among the all mentioned above. So, make sure to hire a professional Chicago web development agency who is capable of delivering development and designing services under one roof. It going into Illustrator or Photoshop or whatever software you prefer. The website pages, including home page, are designed during the page. This step requires strong communication in exchanging ideas as one miscommunication can lead to a total mess.
Development & Coding
The website itself is created in this phase. Professional experts put in place the best suitable templates and coding to give the final touch to the website. Using templates is always a better choice as it helps save a lot of money spent on customization. Various important elements such as flash animations, contact forms or e-commerce shopping carts are included in this phase.
Testing & Launch
Once you’re done with all the hard-work and coding, this is the time that you test the website and its performance along with the design and appearance. You will need to test all links, forms and any other parts of the site for complete functionality. Make sure to check the performance of website as no customer is going to wait for more than 6 seconds for the site pages to load. If everything seems perfect, go live.