Web Site Development Process - The Life-cycle Steps

A system development process can follow a number of standard or company specific frameworks, methodologies, modeling tools and languages. Software development life cycle normally comes with some standards which can fulfill the needs of any development team. Like software, web sites can also be developed with certain methods with some changes and additions with the existing software development process. Let us see the steps involve in any web site development.

1. Analysis:

Once a customer is started discussing his requirements, the team gets into it, towards the preliminary requirement analysis. As the web site is going to be a part of a system, It needs a complete analysis as, how the web site or the web based application is going to help the present system and how the site is going to help the business. Moreover the analysis should cover all the aspects especially on how the web site is going to join the existing system. The first important thing is finding the targeted audience. Then, All the present hardware, software, people and data should be considered during the time of analysis. For example, if a company XYZ corp is in need of a web site to have its human resource details online, the analysis team may try to utilize the existing data about the employees from the present database. The analysis should be done in the way, that it may not be too time consuming or with very less informative. The team should be able to come up with the complete cost-benefit analysis and as the plan for the project will be an output of analysis, it should be realistic. To achieve this the analyst should consult the designers, developers and testers to come up with a realistic plan.

Input: Interviews with the clients, Mails and supporting docs by the client, Discussions Notes, Online chat, recorded telephone conversations,Model sites/applications etc.,

Output: 1. Work plan, 2. Cost involved, 3. Team requirements, 4. Hardware-software requirements, 5. Supporting documents and 6. the approval

2. Specification Building:

Preliminary specifications are drawn up by covering up each and every element of the requirement. For example if the product is a web site then the modules of the site including general layout, site navigation and dynamic parts of the site should be included in the spec. Larger projects will require further levels of consultation to assess additional business and technical requirements. After reviewing and approving the preliminary document, a written proposal is prepared, outlining the scope of the project including responsibilities, timelines and costs.

Input: Reports from the analysis team

Output: Complete requirement specifications to the individuals and the customer/customer's representative

3. Design and development:

After building the specification, work on the web site is scheduled upon receipt of the signed proposal, a deposit, and any written content materials and graphics you wish to include. Here normally the layouts and navigation will be designed as a prototype.

Some customers may be interested only in a full functional prototype. In this case we may need to show them the interactivity of the application or site. But in most of the cases customer may be interested in viewing two or three design with all images and navigation.

There can be a lot of suggestions and changes from the customer side, and all the changes should be freezed before moving into the next phase. The revisions could be redisplayed via the web for the customer to view.

As needed, customer comments, feedback and approvals can be communicated by e-mail, fax and telephone.

Throughout the design phase the team should develop test plans and procedures for quality assurance. It is necessary to obtain client approval on design and project plans.

In parallel the Database team will sit and understand the requirements and develop the database with all the data structures and sample data will also be prepared.

Input: Requirement specification

Output: Site design with templates, Images and prototype

4. Content writing:

This phase is necessary mainly for the web sites. There are professional content developers who can write industry specific and relevant content for the site. Content writers to add their text can utilize the design templates. The grammatical and spelling check should be over in this phase.

Input: Designed template

Output: Site with formatted content

5. Coding:

Now its programmers turn to add his code without disturbing the design. Unlike traditional design the developer must know the interface and the code should not disturb the look and feel of the site or application. So the developer should understand the design and navigation. If the site is dynamic then the code should utilize the template. The developer may need to interact with the designer, in order to understand the design. The designer may need to develop some graphic buttons when ever the developer is in need, especially while using some form buttons. If a team of developers is working they should use a CVS to control their sources. Coding team should generate necessary testing plans as well as technical documentation. For example Java users can use JavaDoc to develop their documents to understand their code flow. The end-user documentation can also be prepared by the coding team, which can be used by a technical writer who can understand them, writes helps and manuals later.

Input: The site with forms and the requirement specification

Output: Database driven functions with the site, Coding documents

6. Testing:

Unlike software, web based applications need intensive testing, as the applications will always function as a multi-user system with bandwidth limitations. Some of the testing which should be done are, Integration testing, Stress testing, Scalablity testing, load testing, resolution testing and cross-browser compatibility testing. Both automated testing and manual testing should be done without fail. For example its needed to test fast loading graphics and to calculate their loading time, as they are very important for any web site. There are certain testing tools as well as some online testing tools which can help the testers to test their applications. For example ASP developers can use Microsoft's Web Application Test Tool to test the ASP applications, which is a free tool available from the Microsoft site to download.

After doing all the testing a live testing is necessary for web sites and web based applications. After uploading the site there should be a complete testing(E.g.. Links test)

Input: The site, Requirement specifications, supporting documents, technical specifications and technical documents

Output: Completed application/site, testing reports, error logs, frequent interaction with the developers and designers

7. Promotion:

This phase is applicable only for web sites. Promotion needs preparation of meta tags, constant analysis and submitting the URL to the search engines and directories. There is a details article in this site on site promotion, click here to read it. The site promotion is normally an ongoing process as the strategies of search engine may change quite often. Submitting a site URLs once in 2 months can be an ideal submission policy. If the customer is willing, then paid click and paid submissions can also be done with additional cost.

Input: Site with content, Client mails mentioning the competitors

Output: Site submission with necessary meta tag preparation

8. Maintenance and Updating:

Web sites will need quite frequent updations to keep them very fresh. In that case we need to do analysis again, and all the other life cycle steps will repeat. Bug fixes can be done during the time of maintenance. Once your web site is operational, ongoing promotion, technical maintenance, content management & updating, site visit activity reports, staff training and mentoring is needed on a regular basis depend on the complexity of your web site and the needs within your organization.

Input: Site/Application, content/functions to be updated, re-Analysis reports

Output: Updated application, supporting documents to other life cycle steps and teams.

The above-mentioned steps alone are not strict to web application or web site development. Some steps may not applicable for certain tasks. Its depend on the cost and time involved and the necessity. Sometimes if it is a intranet site, then there will be no site promotion. But even if you are a small development firm, if you adopt certain planning along with this web engineering steps in mind, it will definitely reflects in the Quality of the outcome.

See the flowchart "How we do web development in Macronimous?"[PDF format]

Macronimous is a specialised international web development agency, with a difference. We realise that Web development agency is a terminology that has been recently misrepresented and aim to differentiate ourselves from the others.

http://www.macronimous.co m/resources/web_development_life_cycle.asp

---

Creating a Sticky Web Site

When used to describe a web site, the term "sticky"... Read More

Direct Sales and Your Corporate Website - A Creative Marketing Plan that Works!

Creatively marketing your corporate site takes time in the set... Read More

Achieving Differentiation With Your Website

Internet Marketing is not a miracle marketing strategy ? competition... Read More

Search Engines and Customers Want Focused Web Site Content

How do you decide on the content, products and or... Read More

Top 7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Website

A website provides invaluable advantages for businesses who have one.7... Read More

Five Essential Questions to Answer Before Creating Your First (or second...or third) Website

Right after the thought, "I need a website," people usually... Read More

Website Imperatives and Solutions

When you take a look at the most visited sites... Read More

Developing State-enabled Applications With PHP

Installment 1Developing State-enabled Applications With PHPWhen a user is browsing... Read More

Track Your Visitors, Using PHP

There are many different traffic analysis tools, ranging from simple... Read More

From Search to Sale

The Internet car buyer is an elusive animal. Trying to... Read More

Getting a Web Site Can Be Fast, Easy, and Inexpensive When You Know Your Options

So what do you do if need to get a... Read More

Ebooks for Webmasters

Internet has opened a whole new world for web developers... Read More

Maintaining Your Business Website

QUESTION: Should I build and maintain my business Web... Read More

For Newer Sites, Web Marketing Depends On Titles & Links!

We all start out the same. Some have budgets, some... Read More

Database Driven Web Site - Do You Need It?

Many of site owners still don't realize all advantages of... Read More

Web Accessibility Myths

With more and more countries around the world passing laws... Read More

Content Management

More and more businesses are recognizing the importance of content... Read More

Non-Profits: Successful Online Strategies

More and more non-profit organizations are developing websites to help... Read More

Ten Major Tips to Develop a Multilingual Web Site to Work

If you are living in a country that its native... Read More

Remember This When Building A New Site - Beginners Guide

I recently helped my mom to launch a website (www.mom2me.com)... Read More

Trust Us! Sending Credible Messages

A company must earn and keep trust or sales don't... Read More

1 Simple Solution to All Internet Marketers about Their Website Design Needs

It is an undeniable fact that not everybody is keen... Read More

Improving Usability for Screen Reader Users

Simply ensuring your website is accessible to screen reader users... Read More

Making Your Websites More Compelling

The Internet is a remarkable publishing medium. With just a... Read More

Traffic for Webmasters

"If you build it, they will come"; is an age... Read More

Give Your Business a Cash Infusion

Whether you have your own business already, or are looking... Read More

HTML Editors 101 - Smaller Is Better

SiteSpinnerSiteSpinner is a user-friendly web site development tool that includes... Read More

A Beginners Guide to Server Side Includes

An Introduction to Server Side IncludesBeginner? That's OK!While much has... Read More

Website Sales: 10 Reasons Why People Dont Buy From You

You've put up a website to promote a product or... Read More

How to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements

How popular is online shopping? And is there room for... Read More

Dreamweaver 8 Preview

August 8 2005, Macromedia announced a release of Studio 8.... Read More

Creating Dynamic Website Content with PHP - MySQL

Fresh website content for your visitors can be of real... Read More

Seven Daft Things Not To Do To Your Website

1. Splash pagesMost of the time splash pages are uncalled... Read More