Goal identification: Work with the client to determine what goals the site needs to fulfill.

Scope definition: Once we know the site’s goals, we can define the scope of the project. What pages and features the site requires to fulfill the goal and the timeline for building those out.

Sitemap and wireframe creation: defining how the content and features we defined in will interrelate.

Content creation: Now that we have a bigger picture of the site in mind, we can start creating content for the individual pages. It’s vital that you have real content to work with for our next stage.

Visual elements: Depending on the client, this may already be well-defined, but we might also be defining the visual style from the ground up. Tools like style tiles, mood boards, and element collages can help with this process.

Testing: By now, we’ve got all your pages and defined how they display to the site visitor, so it’s time to make sure it all works. Combine manual browsing of the site on a variety of devices with automated site crawlers to identify everything from user experience issues to simple broken links.

Launch! Once everything’s working beautifully, it’s time to plan and execute your site launch! This should include planning both launch timing and communication strategies.