The Process of Web Design and Development

The boom of the Internet marketing industry has brought to the fore a number of services that were initially considered unimportant. But today, technical terms like search engine optimization, Pay per Click advertising, affiliate marketing, etc are daily used and practiced in the online marketplace.

The virtual cyber medium is a platform for countless buyers and sellers engaged in e-commerce. For a seller, his website is his face, establishing his presence in the eyes of millions of prospective buyers. And, for the buyer, a seller's website is the doorway to information regarding a particular product or service he is looking for.

Every seller wishes to make his website different and special in comparison to his competitors. And, this can be done only if he pays considerable amount of attention to the design and development of his site. This is one of the most sought-after Internet services in the world today. You might have the best product in town, but if you do not have a good promotional strategy to sell it online, your business will be left out of the race.

The design of your site plays a big role in deciding its fate, with regard to both search engine technicalities and user appeal. It should be such that search engines find it easy to crawl and users find it convenient to navigate through - the key lies in retention. Following the step-by-step process mentioned below will help you design a site that will boomerang the prospects of your business.

1) First and foremost, you need to decide the mission of your website – what is it that you wish to accomplish through it? Your site should be built in such a way that it establishes the purpose of your marketing strategy. It should satisfy visitor queries, as well as aid them in making easy purchases. Always remember, not everyone who visits your site is interested in buying something from you. Thus, your site should be all-encompassing when it comes to satiating users. Here lies the importance of knowing your niche market, so that you can design your web pages in accordance with their likes, dislikes and mindset.

2) Once you have decided the objective of your business site, turn your attention to your competitors. Analyse their websites and study how they are accomplishing their goals. This will help you in improvising on your strategies and devising plans that can take your web design and development campaign to newer heights. Keyword analysis is one of the easiest ways of finding out how your competitors are doing well in their businesses.

3) After this analysis, you have to work towards satisfying your visitors. They should be able to navigate freely and locate any page they are looking for with the least number of hassles. Here, you have to decide on features like drop-down menus, sidebars, toolbars, left-hand or right-hand tables, et al. Always try and link every page of your site to your homepage. Not only will it strengthen your link exchange programme, it will also get you a higher PageRank. After the users, turn your focus to search-engine friendliness. Your site has to be created in accordance with guidelines and algorithms set by search engines that you cater to. You need to take a decision with regard to the use of software and design techniques. Design your web pages in the programming language that best suits your requirements – HTML, Flash, Ajax and PHP are some of the most popular languages used by webmasters worldwide.

4) After the basic layout has been decided, you need to write and optimize content for your pages. This content has to be informative, catchy and extremely relevant to the subject discussed on your site. Judicious use of keywords is highly recommended here; but stay away from keyword stuffing. Meta tags of a web page should incorporate the most important keywords for that particular page – optimizing them can do a great deal for your site. Be very careful about the use of images – keep them small in size, optimize the Alt Tags and use image links when need be.

5) Once you are through with the implementation of this design, it is time to test your site's efficiency. Seek comments from people in and outside your organisation. This will help you in determining problems and getting rid of them.

6) Many experts insist that designing a website is comparatively easier than maintaining it. You need to make constant upgradations and monitor its impact on your target audience. The process of web design and development is a continual one – you cannot create a site and get over with it.

Real online marketing success can be achieved only when you are able to retain visitors and get them converted into buyers. And the only way to make it possible is by giving them all the information they want, and by establishing a strong presence on global search engines so that you can be traced back for further interaction.

Web Design and Development
Web Design and Development company ePurplemedia provide bespoke and affordable Web Site Design and Web Development for UK and worldwide.