Website and program development

Website and program development

The homepage is an indispensable part of every modern company and is often the place where the most information about that company is collected. It can make a first impression, provide a wealth of information, and largely determine whether potential customers will call you or your competitors. Although website development began in 1991, many websites are still developed without ideas, messages, and goals, scaring visitors away within the first 3 seconds. When starting website development, you must understand the most important things:

The purpose of the website, why it was created

Target audience - who will be visiting the website

And only after clarifying the website’s purpose and its target audience can you start developing the website.

Research

In construction, when building a new house, the customer’s wishes are clarified from the start - how many floors, rooms, bathrooms, balconies, whether it has a basement, etc. Similarly, when developing a new website, it is necessary to ask the right questions. This is the most important stage to ensure the success of the project. Mistakes during the foundation phase can lead to total or partial project failure.

At this stage, the following are clarified:

Purpose of development and target audience

Wants and needs

Website structure, number of sections, and number of languages

Understanding colors and styles

Availability of materials

Other questions

Concept development

Only when all information has been collected and thoroughly researched can the work begin on the concept or idea of the website, aimed at conveying the client’s vision and achieving the goals not only with beautiful colors, shapes, and fonts but also with an idea infused throughout the operation, content, and creative performance of the website. This way, with a good website idea, it can not only showcase the company’s products, services, and contact information but also reflect the company’s values.

Website development and adaptive design

When hearing the term beautiful design, each of us imagines something different, but all are unified by functionality, usability, aesthetics, and simplicity. A good design is one that will serve its intended purpose for years to come as market trends change.

Development and design are based on research data and the developed concept, as well as whether the website needs an adaptive design to support usability and cater to mobile users who prefer accessing the web from smartphones and tablets.

When creating website design, the following are also considered:

Examples of good practices globally, trends, and their relevance to the specific project

Website usability

Text readability and font size

White space

Colors and their accents in essential elements

Preparing responsive HTML/CSS framework for the website

HTML and CSS code are the foundation of the website, and how well it is prepared largely determines the website’s speed, ease of additions, and adherence to W3C standards.

Development is done manually without pre-made builders, leaving behind excess and unnecessary code. As a result, the code is easy to understand, and page loading times are reduced.

Framework development avoids table-based structures as this makes it difficult for search engines (like Google or Bing) to access information.

The website is designed to comply with W3C standards, meaning it contains no errors and search engines will have no difficulty indexing it.

The website’s HTML/CSS framework is optimized for the most popular web browsers (Firefox, IE, Opera, Safari), ensuring consistent functionality and appearance across browsers.

The framework will automatically adapt to the screen resolution of different devices to ensure ease of use regardless of the device.

Website programming (PHP 7+, MySQL)

During the programming phase, the website is prepared for widespread use. A database is created, previously agreed-upon functional requirements are developed, tested, and implemented. To make the website easy to manage, a simple but highly scalable content management system - WordPress - is also introduced.

Website testing

Testing is conducted throughout the project development process, from design to launch. In the final stage of the project, comprehensive website testing is performed, including testing all developed functions, testing the website on popular browsers, language testing, usability testing, testing on different devices, etc. At this stage, all issues must be resolved, and the website must be ready for the final phase – launching the website.

Publishing a website

After the testing phase is successfully completed, the website can be published. Choosing a domain name is an important part of the website publishing phase, as it will affect search engine results and the number of website visitors will depend on it. Choosing website hosting is the next step after purchasing a domain name.

Some considerations when choosing hosting:

Service cost

Availability and performance

Server speed

Capacity

Geographical location

Security

Benefits of a website for a company:

24/7 advertising, 365 days a year

Website information accessible from anywhere in the world

Creating a first impression and building a company image

A fast and dynamic communication tool

Cheap and effective advertising

Feedback and information sharing

Statistical data and measurement tools