5 critical stages of the web development process

No doubt, you’re excited about getting a website and can’t wait to get started. However, it is always a good idea to be aware of the stages that are involved in the web development process. By understanding these stages, you will be able to communicate with your designers better and you will avoid having to go through revisions or multiple iterations.

As the owner of Ignition Media, a company that specialises in web development, I, for one, know the stages that are involved in a project. Continue reading this article as I outline the 5 stages of web development. These are the stages you can expect your project to go through when you have a website built by us at Ignition Media – ranging from initial contact through to the completion of your project.

1. The planning stage

Arguably, the most important stage of web development projects that we undertake at Ignition Media is the planning stage. In this stage, you will communicate your ideas to your designer and this forms the basis of the entire project. This stage involves critical attention to detail and also requires a lot of interaction between clients, designers and developers. There are a number of sub-stages of this stage, which include analysing requirements, drawing up a project charter, building a site map, defining roles, financial points and copyrights through contracts, gaining access to build folder structures and servers and also determining the resources and required software to be used in the project.

2. The design stage

Once extensive talks have taken place between you and your designers and developers, your web development project is all set to start. Next comes the design stage in which our designers will present the main deliverables to you in visual representation. Some crucial elements that will be presented to you during this phase include wireframes of the site layout, design elements that will be used, mock-ups based on the requirements analysis, and XHTML and CSS codes for the site. These elements will go through a review and approval cycle before proceeding on to the next stage. Upon completion of this stage, the website will have more or less taken shape, barring the lack of features and content.

3. The development stage

After the design phase comes the actual development stage, which includes the bulk of the programming and the loading of content. In this stage, our developers will build the development framework of your site, they will create code templates for each page type, they will test for interactivity and special features and will finally fill content onto your site. Testing and verification of links and their functionality also is an important part of the development stage.

4. The launch stage

By now, your website will be designed and filled with content and special features and will be ready for launch. In this stage of web development, your website will be prepared for public viewing and will be rigorously tested. Design elements will be polished, your website will be transferred to a live server and it will be checked for compatibility across different browsers. This stage is where the user experience is considered and if the need be, your website is moved onto a permanent web server.

5. The post-launch stage

Post the launch of a website, your web development project is more or less complete. Here, our developers will hand over the website to you after making sure that you are satisfied with the product and that all contractual obligations have been met. Documentation and source files will be shared with you and the project will come to a close with the final documentation. However, a website always needs to be maintained and this is included in most of our projects. Even after handing over a site to a client, we will take care of updating the site and taking care of security issues post its launch.

Also read: Stages of Website Development

Conclusion:

When you hire a company to handle your web development project, the project will typically go through 5 stages. These stages are common across most developers that you will work with, including us at Ignition Media. The 5 stages that you can expect in your web development project include the planning stage, the design stage, the development stage, the launch stage and the post-launch stage. Every stage of web development is critical to the project, so you must make sure that you understand your role in the various stages before your project kicks off.

At Ignition Media, we specialise in website design and we have built hundreds of websites for both local and international clients. We boast of having a team of skilled designers and developers who are well versed with all the aspects involved in building websites. Thanks to our experience of over 16 years in this field, we are able to build high-quality business websites for our clients that meet their objectives.

To take advantage of our great website development services, get in touch with us today!