Site Design Process
I treat each project's needs individually. I tend to use colors and layout that make sense for the project needs, and I almost always use WordPress these days.
I typically work on small-scale, short-duration sites these days, though I have worked on large-scale web presence projects for clients such as Water Environment Federation, Verizon, American Bankers Association, MTV and others. (More about me here.)
The process for creating a web site usually involves the following phases, roughly in this order:
- Discussions with client about site goals and audience
- Keyword and search engine placement research
- Content gathering from client (all page information)
- Information architecture design (site organization. flowcharts, wireframe page outlines)
- Graphic design mock-up (sketches, Photoshop design)
- Coding in XHTML 1.1 or HTML5 and CSS2.1 or CSS 3
- Any needed programming for site functionality
- Testing
- Launch
- Ongoing search engine optimization maintenance