The creation and design of websites, or web design, consists of designing the web interface: the interactional architecture, the organization of the pages, the tree structure and the navigation in a website. The conception of a web design takes into account the specific constraints of the Internet medium, particularly in terms of ergonomics, usability and accessibility.

The skills required for an efficient web design

Web design requires various skills in programming, ergonomics and interactivity, as well as a good knowledge of the technical constraints related to this field: diversity of web terminals and their displays, accessibility, specificity of different languages and processes, portability and compliance with W3C recommendations.

Static or dynamic website

A static website consists of a simple page in HTML format, which will then be formatted or enriched with CSS to include images and links to other content.

While a dynamic website is made up of dynamic contents where we can add functionalities to make it interactive with services programmed in Java, PHP or another web language, with forms allowing a treatment in JavaScript or with Ajax. It can be based on database technologies such as MySQL.

The steps of designing a website

Initial meeting and needs analysis

At this stage, the developer works closely with the client. Together, they determine the objectives of the website and the targeted clientele. These criteria will have a direct impact on the navigation principles, content, pages and services offered on the website. It is therefore essential to take the time to analyze the needs and develop the best strategies to use. Then, it is necessary to decide on the desired autonomy, the type of updates and their frequency.

Planning the web project

Before moving on to the other steps, it is essential to determine certain elements. First of all, it is necessary to establish the referencing strategies to be implemented.

Once the plan is established, the developer will propose a document presenting the tree structure of the website. He makes sure that this structure is complementary to the SEO strategy. This document will then be validated and modified, if necessary, in collaboration with the client.

Then, functional models will be elaborated for each page of the website. Once completed, the mock-ups will be presented to the client. These documents will then be validated and modified, if necessary.

The implementation

It is at this stage that the domain name(s) of your website are registered. Then, a hosting package that meets your current and future needs is chosen.

The design and the execution

This step is the most technical. This is when the visual design begins. One or two mock-ups are presented to the client. Once the graphic style is chosen, the integration and programming of the website begins, then the interactions, animations, forms, etc. are created.

Quality control

It is now time to put the website online. When everything is finished, we have to validate again some elements: broken links, forms, data, etc.

Putting the website online

It is now time to put the website online. When everything is finished, we have to validate again some elements: broken links, forms, data, etc.

Promotion and follow-up of the website

It is time to launch the Facebook page, the Google+ page as well as the Twitter account according to the elaborated launch strategy. It is now necessary to publicize the site via social media, create an event, advertise, etc.

It is also important to follow up once the project is launched: SEO positioning reports, validation of statistics. If needed, some adjustments can be made to the website.

Finally, it is important to keep the website up to date.