What Are the 7 stages of Web Development Life Cycle

COLCHESTER, U.K. - Feb. 24, 2025 - PRLog -- Developers use the web development life cycle (WDLC) to create, maintain, and improve websites by following a series of steps that ensure the website's success.

Planning – the first stage of web development

The planning phase is the first step in the WDLC. During this phase, you determine what your website needs to accomplish and how it should be structured. This includes deciding on a domain name, hosting provider. You will also need to identify your target audience and develop a plan for how you will reach them.

Design

The Design phase is where you create the look and feel of your website. This includes selecting colours, fonts, images, layouts, navigation menus, etc. During this phase you should also consider accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.0 AA These standards ensure all users can access your site regardless of their abilities or disabilities.

Development

Once you have finalized your design plans it's time to start developing your website. At Saint IT our preferred CMS is WordPress for lots of reasons. One of the most important reasons is the flexibility and the ease of use for the client once the website goes live.
During this phase you will need to implement all of the features outlined in your design plans.

Testing

The Testing phase is where you make sure everything works properly before launching your website live on the internet. This includes checking for bugs in code and ensuring that all features work correctly across different browsers and devices. It's important to test thoroughly during this stage.

Deployment

After you complete all tests successfully, deploy the website! This process makes the website public so that users can access it online through their web browsers or mobile devices. You might need to set up databases, configure DNS settings  and configure security settings.

Maintenance

90% of web development agencies overlook this stage. The end result is a bad website that frustrates your visitors. The Maintenance phase is an ongoing phase, where you make changes over time, based on user feedback or new requirements.

Optimization – The Final Stage of Web development

The Optimization phase involves making changes over time in order to improve performance such as increasing page loading speeds or improving search engine rankings etc. This could involve making changes such as optimizing images/code for faster loading times.

Conclusion

The web development life cycle (WDLC) with its seven distinct phases outlines the complexities involved in web design. Partner with Saint IT to build your website and ensure every stage meets your goals.

Contact us (https://www.saint-it.co.uk/contact-saint-it/)