Proper planning is key to a successful website development project. When planning a new website or redesigning an existing one, taking the time upfront to map out the process is crucial. A well-thought-out project plan will help you stay on schedule and within budget.
This post outlines the key steps to effectively plan and manage a website development project from start to finish. By following this planning methodology, you can facilitate collaboration between stakeholders and developers.
Iterating designs early, estimating timelines accurately, and accounting for all necessary assets keeps costs in check.
With a clear roadmap in place, you'll be equipped to monitor progress, identify potential roadblocks, and course correct as needed. The planning phase sets the stage for on-time and on-budget delivery.
Let's explore each stage of website project planning in detail to help you smoothly guide the process from conception through launch. Proper planning is the first step to a successful website.
Define Project Goals and Objectives
The first step is to clearly define what you want to achieve with the new website. Be specific about your goals such as whether you want to increase sales, build brand awareness, acquire more leads, or simplify customer interactions.
To evaluate success, determine key performance indicators (KPIs) that you'll track pre- and post-launch. Examples may include the number of website visitors, conversion rate, lead volume, items ordered, or average order value. Define what constitutes success for each metric, so you have a way to measure impact.
Additionally, establish a high-level timeline with key projected milestones and a target completion date. Consider both development phases as well as content production timelines. Providing developers with clear goals, metrics, and deadlines early on allows for accurate scoping, estimating, and staying on schedule.
Having defined objectives helps ensure all project stakeholders are working towards the same end result. Revisit goals and KPIs periodically to account for any changes in priorities as the project evolves.
2. Create a Sitemap
With goals established, map out the overall information architecture and navigational structure of the website. Develop a sitemap detailing all necessary pages, including page titles and descriptions.
Be sure to include key sections like the home page, sub-category pages, and high-priority landing pages. Illustrate how pages will be grouped into sections and linked together in a logical, intuitive flow.
Also visualize the navigational elements. Will there be drop-down menus? Secondary nav? Consider both desktop and mobile experiences. Easily finding relevant information in a few clicks improves the user experience and engagement.
Get input from other stakeholders to finalize a sitemap representing the optimal structure. Often, wireframing at this stage helps visualize and iterate page designs before development begins.
A well-planned sitemap lays the blueprint for building a user-friendly site that properly supports defined goals. Refer to it frequently throughout the project as a guide for scope, build-out, and quality assurance testing.
3. Wireframing
When developing a new website, it's important to create basic wireframes and mockups to help visualize the overall content, structure, and page designs before development begins.
For the IET Experts Web development services UK, the team started by sketching low-fidelity wireframes on paper to map out the information architecture and how different content types would be organized across pages.
These initial wireframes were shared with stakeholders for feedback. Valuable insights were gained that led to revising the navigation structure and content placements.
An iterative process occurred, refining the wireframes based on additional rounds of comments. Interactive digital mockups were then produced to further showcase page designs and interactive elements.
The IET Experts team finalized preferred wireframe and mockup designs by reaching consensus with stakeholders. This ensured agreement on how various sections like home, blogs, services etc would be structured and visually arranged to optimize usability and the user experience.
Color schemes and stylistic preferences were also locked in through this design approval stage.
Having well-developed wireframes and designs signed off beforehand allowed IET Experts to efficiently build out the website code and launch within the agreed upon timelines, confident that all key interfaces met stakeholder needs and brand guidelines. The upfront investmentvisualization prevented costly reworks later
4. Development Estimates
With site plans defined, obtain development estimates from potential contractors. Provide vendors with detailed requirements including:
- Platform/framework preferences (e.g. WordPress)
- Anticipated page counts and complexity
- Interactive features or custom functionality
- Integrations needed (e.g. CRM, chatbots)
- hosting/security needs
Request estimates to cover: initial development, required assets (design, copy, images), ongoing updates, and long-term maintenance agreements.
Consider possible future changes too like adding new features, migrating to a new platform, or integration with additional systems down the road.
Vendors should outline these assumptions in fixed-fee or hourly rate quotes. Compare estimates to determine the most cost-effective, experienced match while fitting your budget and deadlines.
Factor in ongoing costs to your projections. Proper budgeting during planning helps manage resources throughout the entire project lifecycle and beyond.
5. Select Developers
When hiring vet developers, carefully evaluate their experience, portfolio, and reviews. Experience is important, aiming for developers with several years under their belt working on similar projects.
Review their past work and portfolio to understand their coding style and abilities. Positive reviews from previous clients can help validate their skills and work ethic.
Don't just take a developer's word on their experience - check references. Contact at least two past clients and ask about the quality of work, ability to meet deadlines, communication skills, and how well they handled any issues that came up.
References can provide an unbiased perspective you can't get directly from the developer.
Once you've found strong candidates, negotiate contracts carefully. Unlike employees, contracted developers are operating as independent businesses.
Discuss payment terms, expectations for responsibilities and deliverables, intellectual property ownership, and dispute resolution upfront. Get everything in writing before work begins so there are no misunderstandings down the line.
Finally, establish a clear development process before hiring a vet developer. Make sure they understand expectations for project management, communication protocols, design approvals, code standards, and testing procedures. Having these project basics outlined ahead of time sets all parties up for success and ensures you get the outcomes you need from the development work.
6. Content Inventory
Before beginning new content creation, take time to audit what already exists so it can potentially be reused. This could save significant time and costs compared to building everything from scratch.
Go through all existing marketing materials, website pages, social assets, emails, presentations, etc. to see what copy, images, videos or other creative assets can still apply.
Once you understand what can be carried over from prior efforts, identify where additional new content is required. Determine what specific pages, assets or collateral need to be developed to fill any gaps.
Make a list of the new content needed, whether it's blog posts, ebooks, infographics or other formats. Be as specific as possible on the planned purpose and topic of each new piece of content.
With audited reusable content and identified new needs in hand, create a detailed production timeline. Work backwards from major launch or renewal dates to establish deadlines for content completion.
Factor in realistic time estimates for writing, designing, reviewing and approving each piece. Schedule asset creation such as photoshoots or videos based on when the files will be needed.
Building this timeline ensures all teams and contributors have visibility into the workflow. It helps manage expectations and keep the project on track.
Leaving adequate time for quality checks and revisions is important. The timeline also provides targets to measure progress against throughout the content development process.
7. Testing and Launch
During website development, it is critical to iteratively test pages and functionality, soliciting feedback to refine elements that aren't working as intended.
Set up usability testing with target end users to get feedback on concepts, designs and information architecture early. This helps catch issues before significant work is done.
As pages and sections are built, have reviewers inside and outside the organization evaluate them to ensure they are clear, relevant and aligned with goals.
Make revisions as needed based on testing. Perform technical testing as well to identify and repair any bugs prior to launch. Iterative testing and refining saves greater rework costs down the line.
Prior to the site launching, formalize a sign off process where key stakeholders approve all web pages and cross-check against original objectives.
Get documented approval from decision makers to deploy the site. This confirms all parties are satisfied the new site is ready for launch as-is or with any mutually agreed upon final changes.
Conclusion
Taking the time to carefully plan a new website's information architecture, content workflow, and overall designs through wireframing and mockups is invaluable for developing an effective and well-organized site.
The iterative process used by IET Experts ensured stakeholder buy-in and alignment on critical design decisions before development commenced.
By gaining feedback and approval on page structures, navigation patterns, and proposed user experiences, IET Experts mitigated risks of building features or pages that didn't satisfy real business or visitor needs. Presenting early concepts also helped manage stakeholder expectations on timelines and functionality.
With finalized wireframes and mockups in place, IET Experts was confident moving forward with development according to agreed upon specifications. This set their clients' new website up for success by launching with intuitive, desktop- and mobile-responsive designs that met business goals out of the gate.
