Getting a new website is exciting but it can also be overwhelming. There are many website development process steps and you may not even be aware of everything that has to be done. The developer will of course take the lead but as the owner of the site, you also have a role to play. Before a site goes live, a number of checkboxes must be ticked regarding:
1. Technical development
2. Content
3. Search engine optimization
4. Testing
Getting The Technical Details Right
You’ll naturally be eager to see the finished product and you may not know what is the process of website development. On the technical side, you need to:
• Have a plan for backing up the site.
• Make sure you have a valid SSL certificate. This makes your site safer for both your business and visitors.
• Make the site accessible to people with disabilities.
• Eliminate the need for javascript.
• Have notifications about errors sent to an email address to which you have access.
Getting Your Content Ready For Launch Day
Before your site goes live, you must:
• Proofread your copy. Bad spelling and grammar will turn off your visitors.
• Make sure all the test content and other unwanted text or photos have been deleted. All that should remain is what you want visitors to see.
• Ensure the fonts you use are consistent throughout the site.
• Test contact forms to make sure they’re working as intended.
Making Sure Your Target Audience Can Find You
SEO is an extremely important part of the e-commerce website development process. To boost the search engine rankings of your new site, you should:
• Make sure there are no broken links
• Do your keyword research
• Add meta titles and meta descriptions to your posts and pages
• Submit your site’s XML sitemap
• Take advantage of SEO plugins
• Implement schema markup
• Add an analytics solution
Testing Ahead Of Going Public
After going through all the other website development process steps, you have to make sure visitors will have a smooth experience. This involves:
• Making sure the site is responsive
• Testing the site on various browsers
• Trying the website on different devices
• Fixing any bugs you discover
Plan For Ongoing Maintenance
Once your site goes public, you’ll need to maintain it. Here are some of the maintenance costs you should expect.
Seems Like Too Much? Let a Web Development Agency Handle It.
Building a website is time intensive and it involves multiple individuals. Some elements of the e-commerce website development process are quite technical. If it all seems too overwhelming, you can simply let a competent web development agency take care of all the details. When you hire professionals, you can be sure that they will handle everything, right down to hiring professional testers to check for errors.
