The Website Creation Process
Please note: This part of the website is archived for your information, I am not currently taking on any projects nor am I updating this section of the website. I hope you will however find it useful when planning a website, client or designer.
Contents
- What do I need to own a Website?
- The Website Creation Process (This page)
- Launch & Marketing
- Maintenance & Editing
- The Costs
Commissioning, maintaining, and promoting a website for your small business, organisation, or individual project can sound like a daunting task, but it’s easy when you know how!
Let me share over 20 years of experience in website design, development, and Search Engine Optimisation. Here I break down the process, and the requirements, and provide important information that will save you time, money, and headaches!
The Website Creation Process
Prepare your Website Content
1. Define Your Goals and Objectives
The first and foremost step in website preparation is to define your goals and objectives. What purpose will your website serve? Is it a blog, a portfolio, a marketing brochure website or a combination of these? Identifying your goals will help shape the content, design, and functionality of your website.
2. Research and Plan
Before diving into the design and development process, take the time to research your target audience, competitors, and industry trends. A well-informed strategy is vital for a successful website.
Keyword Research
Before you embark on the journey of creating a new website, start with thorough keyword research. Identify relevant and high-value keywords that pertain to your business, industry, and services. Integrating these keywords strategically throughout your website’s content will boost your search engine rankings and increase visibility.
Content is King!
Your website content is your text paragraphs and articles, photos or graphics, and video. Content is king in the online world. Craft high-quality, engaging content that not only informs but also resonates with your audience. Optimize content for both your target keywords and user experience, ensuring your website offers value to visitors.
Site Hierarchy and Menu
Your content needs to be divided into pages under a navigation menu hierarchy, as seen in the example below.
Branding
I specialise in crafting bespoke websites that adhere to your specific branding requirements, encompassing colour schemes, logos, and other essential elements. Additionally, I offer consultation services to assist you in shaping your brand identity, providing valuable insights and creative suggestions if you haven’t established branding guidelines yet.
In the event that budget constraints are a concern, consider exploring the versatile selection of editable logos available on Graphic River, a platform within the Envato Market. I possess the expertise to tailor these pre-existing logos to align seamlessly with your business needs, ensuring a cost-effective solution.
Branding Resources
Delve into Colour!
Building & Search Engine Optimisation
I prioritise responsive design, ensuring your site functions seamlessly on all devices from desktop to mobile. This is essential for user experience and search engine ranking. I will work closely with you to develop a visually appealing and cohesive design. This includes branding elements, colour schemes, typography, and a user-friendly layout encouraging engagement and conversions. I handle the technical aspects of website development, using clean code and optimizing for speed. Throughout this process I implement advanced on-page SEO techniques, optimizing your website’s structure, content, and metadata to enhance its visibility in search engine results pages.
UK Website Legal Pages
Lastly, in terms of essential content required for a successful website launch, ensuring legal compliance is essential. While it may seem tedious, adherence to legal standards is a non-negotiable responsibility for every website owner. One option is to use free templates that address various legal requirements, enabling you to customise them with your business-specific information after reviewing the drafting guidelines. Subsequently, I can seamlessly integrate the edited content into a new web page at no extra cost, complementing the website package I offer.
I cannot write these pages for you nor judge if they are sufficient, I am not a lawyer, so if you feel that the following templates don’t cover your requirements you will need a lawyer to write them for you. Some professions are required to have additional specific legal pages and information. If you are a company, you must include information such as your company name, registered number, and address. If you’re VAT registered, this too must be displayed. If you are using the templates below or any other template, there will be text placeholders where this information can be inputted.
Legal Page Templates
There are a number of services offering free basic templates and generators. These include:
Cookies / Cookie Policy
This is generated by software in your website admin, or Content Management System (CMS), along with a little input from myself, and in consultation with you. I also create a legally required pop-up cookies policy message for first-time visitors. A cookie policy is a legal requirement. Learn more about cookies here: The Cookie Law Explained.
Privacy Policy
For compliance with the Data Protection Legislation. Even if the only data you collect is emails from visitors, you must have a relevant privacy policy.
Website Terms of Use
A Terms of Use governs what a website visitor is and isn’t permitted to do on your website and is critical for protecting your website.
Website Disclaimer
Protects your interests when it comes to legal liability.
Copyright Notice
Protect your content with a legally enforceable copyright notice covering your logo, photos, text and more.
Testing & Perfecting
The pre-launch phase of website development demands meticulous scrutiny and optimization. Comprehensive testing encompasses various critical aspects, such as rigorous evaluation of page speed to ensure optimal loading times, thorough refinements in search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to enhance visibility and ranking, and a meticulous review of overall functionality, usability, and compatibility across different devices and browsers. Beyond these fundamentals, attention to detail in areas like user experience (UX), content accuracy, security, and mobile responsiveness is paramount, guaranteeing a seamless, error-free user journey upon website launch.
What do I need to own a Website?
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