Most Web site projects have a logical flow of development, a type of evolution with distinct phases that, when followed, can streamline the entire design process. Here’s the general order in which most Web site projects evolve:

Planning

Define the goals and purpose of the site, construct a site identity, determine what content should go on the site, diagnose dynamic site requirements, if any, and figure out ways to attract visitors to the site after it gets published on the Web.

Contract

Draft and submit a proposal to the client for the project that outlines the scope of the work in written form so that both the designer and client have a clear understanding of the expectations and outcome of the project, as well as financial agreements, time frame, and deliverables. Upon approval, the proposal gets converted into an official contract that both parties sign, and a deposit is paid to the designer to begin work.

Design

Characterize a target audience; construct an identity for the ideal site visitor; gather information about the target audience’s computer usage; determine the benefits to visitors; make decisions about layout, color, organization, and content; and finally mock up a design and present it to the client for approval.

Building

Convert a mock-up into HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a WYSIWYG Web editor such as Adobe Dreamweaver; organize content in visually pleasing ways; create and optimize Web graphics; add dynamic capabilities to the pages with JavaScript and other programming languages when warranted; and ensure that all the pages on the site look good and function well in a variety of browsers on both the Mac and PC as the pages are being built.

Testing

Test the design on a testing server in the most popular browsers and browser versions on Mac, PC, and Linux platforms in the most popular operating systems (Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X, and so on) at a variety of monitor resolutions; validate the code; check for spelling errors; fix coding errors; and otherwise ensure that each visitor can navigate through the site with no technical problems.

Site Launch

Secure a domain and hosting plan, upload the site’s files to a host server, retest the site, and be ready to maintain the site postlaunch.
Postlaunch Site Maintenance

Ensure that the site’s content stays relevant and up to date by adding new and editing existing content, as well as making improvements and other enhancements to the site.