How a Website Works: From Ideation to Execution

Have you ever wondered how a website functions or found yourself wondering how it actually does what it’s supposed to do? Here’s a straightforward overview designed to educate and empower you.

Purpose

Think of your website as a tool. Tools have specific jobs or functions they serve and perform, similar to employees and even bosses. First and foremost, your website must solve a problem—it needs a purpose.

What is its value to you? How will it be of service and help to you and your business?

You wouldn’t just hire an employee without a reason for their position. Your website needs something to do as well. Once you have that, the items below are needed for your website to succeed.

Pages

For a website to succeed, it needs pages. Each page has a specific role in enabling the website to achieve its goals and provide value. Just as the website has an overall purpose, each page must also have a defined purpose. Understanding what pages are necessary, their objectives, and how they fit into the larger picture working with the other pages is crucial for ensuring their effectiveness.

Content

These pages must contain the right content and be presented in an appropriate format or medium to be effective. Yes, content can certainly be seen as king because, without content, you wouldn’t have a way for your website to be successful. You couldn’t go out and sell something without content, speaking, words, visuals, or a problem to solve. Without content, you wouldn’t exist in the digital world. What you say and how you say it matters.

Design

I always like to think about design as content design, not website design. We are taking the content and designing it to facilitate consumption and guide visitors through actions like purchasing, contacting, or signing up. Understanding how the pages work with one another also helps to create a cohesive design that allows people to digest the content. This is why the argument that design is king exists: with a bad design, users won’t have an opportunity to consume your content.

Development

Development involves building the website to ensure it functions correctly across all devices. In a way, developers are also designers. They bring it all to life. This encompasses all the necessary technology, frameworks, and integrations. For instance, when a user submits a contact form, the website should be able to send you the form’s content via email. Similarly, the e-commerce aspects of the website need to handle transactions smoothly. What about paid member areas or courses? Those, too, need to be able to function how we desire them to function, and all of them need to empower the website to be successful so you can be successful.

Maintenance

Owning and maintaining a website should be viewed not as a burden but as part of the joy of ownership, like maintaining a car or any other useful tool. Regular updates and refinements based on user feedback are essential. Keeping the technology and code up-to-date ensures the website remains secure and performs well on all new devices and browsers.

Maintaining a website ensures it remains a valuable asset, keeping pace with the ever-evolving digital landscape. What was effective in the past may not suffice today or in the future as the needs of the people adapt and change.

Putting it all together

And now you understand how a website works. YOU empower IT to function effectively through purpose, pages, content, design, development, continual adaptation and improvement, and maintenance.

If you need help with your site, feel free to reach out. 🤙