The Simple Process of Getting a Website Designed and Developed

by Mike Bevans Copyright © 2002

Getting a great website up and running does not have to be a frustrating or difficult experience - even for those that don't have the time or the skill set to do it themselves. All it takes is a little knowledge and access to a pool of talented service providers. While in the past accessing talented service providers has been time consuming and expensive, in today's interconnected world it is just as easy to find a great service provider in India as it is to find someone down the street.

But before you go looking for web designers and developers, you will need a to take a few minutes to become knowledgeable about what it is that you are buying. Taking the time to understand exactly what you want, some key terminology and how to put together a project plan for your Website will improve your experience and ensure that you get the results you are looking for.

What you need to have thought about before starting a website design and development project:

Below is a brief four step process that is essential to every website design and development project.

Step 1: Business Requirements

First, determine what kind of activities you want your customers to be able to perform on your website. Do you want to set up an ecommerce site where potential customers can learn about and purchase your products? Do you want a billboard site with information about your company and where potential customers can go to purchase your products? Activities that you can provide your customers may include:

o Shopping

o Registration

o Requesting information

o Searching a database

o Downloading or uploading files

o Discussion forums

Step 2: Feature Requirements

Identify the features that you want to add to your website to make it more engaging and interactive. For example, if you want to set up an ecommerce site, you may want to have a shopping cart. Some common features are:

o Forms - allows visitors to easily submit or request

information

o Message Boards - visitors can leave or respond to messages

o Photo Galleries - display graphical information on your

products or services

o Counters - track the number of times a page has been viewed

o Flash Animation - create interesting animated content

o Search - allow visitors to search for content

o Shopping Cart - software that collects and records the

purchases of your customers

o Inventory Management - automatic updating of your inventory

Step 3: Service Provider Requirements

Determine the expertise you need. There are two components to the creation of a website: Design and Development; Design deals with the front-end look and feel. Development deals with the back end functionality. These are distinct skill sets so make sure you hire a person or persons that can provide you with what you need.

Step 4: Budget Requirements

Website projects typically start at under a thousand dollars and go up to several thousand depending on the complexity and size of the site you would like. In addition to the cost of designing and developing your site, you need to consider these additional costs: domain name registration, site hosting and site maintenance.

Key Terminology You Should be Familiar With

Here are a few key terms that will help you communicate what you want to the person(s) completing your project. Below are some simple definitions of some basic and advanced web terminology.

BASICS

Flash : Multimedia tool that can be used to design animation for

your site.

Form: Area of a website where a user can submit information in response to a question, or enter credit card and other purchase information.

Frames: Independently controllable sections on a website.

GIF: An image file type commonly used for banners.

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language. The formatting language used to create web pages

JPEG: An image file type commonly used for photos

Rich Media : Elements that contain animation, video or sound. Some popular formats commonly considered rich media include Macromedia Flash and Shockwave.

URL: Universal Resource Locator. Also referred to as a web address or domain name.

ADVANCED

ASP: Active Server Pages; allows for the creation of dynamically generated web pages

CGI: Common Gateway Interface. Scripting language that adds advanced functions such as interaction with forms and databases.

DHTML: Dynamic HTML; allows for interactive content.

Digital Certificates : Necessary for encrypting data (e.g. credit cards) using SSL encryption.

JavaScript: A script language that adds advanced features and

functions to a website.

SSL Encryption: Secure Socket Layer - commonly used for managing the security of message transmission.

XML: Extensible Markup Language - a formatting language similar to HTML but with greater flexibility, providing improved

functionality.

PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

Now that you know some of the basics, you need to put together a simple project plan to help you communicate your project needs.

Follow these guidelines when putting your plan together.

o Determine the objective of your website.

o Define your audience.

o Determine what content you will need.

o Look at other sites for inspiration

o Develop a rough storyboard for your site to ensure that you

have all the components.

o Write up a detailed project description based on the

information you have gathered.

FINDING A GREAT WEB DESIGNER AND/OR DEVELOPER USING THE INTERNET

The Internet provides anyone with access to a worldwide pool of talent to get projects completed. Sites like www.freedesignproposals.com allow you to post your project and within minutes you will have a number of qualified providers bidding on your project. These sites vary greatly, but the overall theme is to connect you with the qualified service providers. You can get a multitude of services on these sites from application development, advertising and marketing copy, business plans, and of course web design and development. The benefits of using these services include: saving you time by having providers come to you with proposals, saving money through competitive bidding and improving the likelihood of success by utilizing the project management tools typically provided on these sites.

By taking some time upfront to understand what you want and how to get it done efficiently and cost effectively, your website project is sure to be a success.

Mike Bevans, MBA, is Sr. Marketing Manager at Elance. Mike is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in online marketing and website analytics. Elance is a Web-based services marketplace providing businesses a better way to buy and manage services.