Web Design / Web Development
Web design / development is the process of conceiving, planning, modeling and executing electronic media content via the Internet in markup language that can be interpreted by a web browser and displayed as graphical user interface.
The intent, of course, is to create a website that will contain necessary pages and reside on a web server(s) to present content along with interactive features in the form of web pages when requested to do so.
Web design / development, pages are either static or dynamic
Web design / development is the process of creating digital environments for the facilitation and encouragement of activity by human beings so that they will reflect or adapt to individual voices and content and change over time without losing their identity. In this process, web pages are generally classified as either static or dynamic. Static web pages are those that don’t change layout or content with each request unless a web master manually updates them. Dynamic web pages change their appearance or content based upon an end-user’s input or interaction in computing equipment. Clients can change the content by utilizing scripting languages such as JavaScript, Jscript, Actionscript or others to alter DOM elements. Dynamic content is frequently compiled on a server with server-side scripting languages such as JSP, ASP, Perl, Python and others. Both of these approaches are generally utilized for complex web design / development applications. Since there is growing specialization in information technology and communication design, web design and web development are usually separated for the logistics of web-based services.
What are great websites?
The ultimate goal of web design / development is the creation of outstanding websites. Great websites, like other outstanding architecture, have certain things in common even though they are individual. Websites should have attention-getting features, but what separates them is great content that answers needed questions, provides hard-to-find information, or promises solutions to difficult problems or processes. They may also showcase needed products and services in a way that best details their advantages to end-users. Simply stated, a website is a collection of information regarding a particular subject or topic. In commercial sites, the value is measured in terms of content, usability, appearance and visibility.
Web design / development requires planning
A good website doesn’t happen through some kind of magic. Rather it requires web design / development that is well thought out and well planned. This requires an understanding of the site’s purpose, audience (target market), and content. The purpose should be defined as what the site is intended to accomplish and what visitors will get from it. The audience or target market is that group who will visit the site or the market being targeted. It may be broad and general or a specific niche in a larger marketplace. The web designer/developer needs an understanding of what the visitors will want and what about the site will attract them. The content needs to be assembled to match the defined purpose and audience in order to be effective. It can be mainly text or text combined with photos or other graphic elements.
Web design / development must include meaningful content
Content should consider factors like search engine optimization and the use of keywords and phrases for directory ranking purposes, but these should not be made such a high priority that good, usable and interesting content suffers. Too many website designers are so concerned with earning high rankings, that they tend to over-optimize with awkward keyword phrases that limit good content. Instead, it is better to keep content strong and increase ranking with ‘links’ that are also part of SE ranking systems.
