Why a good website cannot be made in a week, how it is built the development process and what the customer should prepare for when contacting a web studio

In this article, we want to tell you how the development of a of the website from the moment you contact #dali_win to to the publication of the project online. This is exclusively our workflow.

In one form or another, but all this is the same when ordering website development you will go through!

Request.

At this stage, you need to get a commercial offer. With us you will be asked a number of questions and formulate the task yourself and based on this will give an estimate.

Assessment.

At this stage, studio managers prepare a project estimate, work plan, and discuss with the team how to implement this or that functionality. We prepare a preliminary estimate based on the client's words, and then correct it at the stage of of detailed elaboration of the technical task.

Based on the results of the assessment, you will be provided with a preliminary estimate for development, and if you are satisfied with the cost, we move on to the next stage.

Contract and terms of reference

Many do with just a brief, some without a ToR at all, some charge a separate fee for the development of the ToR. We prepare a preliminary estimate based on expert assessment (the client always wants to hear the cost immediately), and when concluding the contract, we draw up a detailed statement of work and, if necessary, adjust the estimate.

Design.

At this stage, we prepare design layouts for the appearance of the of the future website. First, we prepare the main page and send it to the client for approval, and the client can make changes. This is done because the main page already shows the general style of the site is already visible, there is a header and footer that will be used on all pages. Colors and fonts are also chosen.

After the main page is approved, we draw all the internal pages, they are also edited, but they should no longer relate to the elements approved on the main page.

Layout

When the entire design is agreed with the client, we prepare the layout and ensure adaptability. Most often, we prepare only the desktop version of the design, and the adaptability is provided by the layout designer, the designer simply reviews the finished layout in mobile versions and gives recommendations on how best to minimize the design. This approach saves approximately 50% of the designer's time, and the result is a website with an excellent mobile version, due to the use of pre-prepared grids in the design and layout.

Development

The ready-made layout is pulled into the CMS and ensures the functionality of interactive elements, buttons, forms, news, etc.

If the site is typical, then usually the development is fast and and at minimal cost, but if you have a project using third-party APIs, integrations services, integrations with something or just involves a large amount of unique functionality, this is the most difficult and crucial stage.

Filling and optimization

When the software implementation is ready, in fact, the site is already is already operational. Now an SEO specialist comes into play.

The main task of texts is to disclose information and encourage purchases, and search robots in 2019 are quite capable of determining the relevance of content, so it is not necessary to feed them keywords every sentence.

Testing

Before the final demonstration of the site to the client, the manager responsible for the project tests the site. We have a checklist of the main points of testing, but each site may have unique functionality that cannot be immediately foreseen or described, so the test covers everything:

• visual design test
• checking the adaptability by resizing the browser window both from a real mobile and tablet (sometimes sudden glitches appear that are not present on a PC)
• checking texts for errors
• checking the submission of forms/applications, chat operation
• checking the operation of unique functionality (calculators, filters, etc.)

Edits

Based on the results of the internal audit, we prepare our list of of corrections and, after making them, we send the website to the client to prepare theirs. There are always corrections from the client, but they often relate to content (you need to to specify this and that) and design (the boss said to make the site green).

Good technical specifications and customer participation in the development at all stages allows you to minimize edits

Publication

After making edits, finalizing the site, and receiving payment of the final invoice, we publish the site on the client's domain. Hosting can be registered independently or we can set up and register everything.

After that the project is taken over for technical support and promotion!