Do you want to have the best website in the world? Not only do you need to develop your site, but you should know how to develop it efficiently. Keep reading to learn some tips that can help.

1. Know Your Objective

Before you start developing your website, you should consider the site’s main goal. For example, an eCommerce store’s goal may be to sell products. A consultant may have the goal of getting clients to book a consulting call. And a new business may want people to join an email list.

Whatever the objective is, you should consider that when designing your site. That way, you can make it easy for visitors to know what to do. An eCommerce store might place links to products or the store page throughout the homepage to get traffic. A consultant may use blog posts to share their expertise.

2. Research Your Competitors

Another great way to develop your site efficiently is to look at your competitors. Health websites can look at USANA Health Sciences, for example. Go to their websites and check out the layout and structure of each site. Consider what pages your competitors have.

While you shouldn’t copy your competitors, you can use their sites as inspiration. Then, you won’t have to design your website completely from scratch. You can combine the best elements of different sites to help design yours.

3. Create a Plan

Next, you should plan out how you want your site to look. You can do this on paper or using a graphic design program if you know how to use one. The plan can include a list of the pages you want and how you want the layout to look.

Use your plan to write the copy for your homepage, about page, and contact page. Consider what pages you want to highlight in your navigation bar and write the content for those. Then, you won’t have to spend time writing as you develop the site.

4. Compile Media Files

One great way to grab someone’s attention is with a photo or video. If relevant, you can add these media files to your website, but you should organize them ahead of time. Like with the writing stage, gathering media now will save you time when developing the site.

All you’ll have to worry about then is uploading the files and putting them on your site. Now, you can compile tons of photos and videos, even more than you think you’ll need. Then, you can choose the files that will look best on your site.

5. Choose the Right Website Builder

Now, you’re ready for the first step in developing your site, and that is to choose a website builder. The most popular options include WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix. WordPress is a content management system, and over a third of websites use it.

If you want something a little less intense, Squarespace and Wix are both popular alternatives. They combine hosting with the website builder, but WordPress requires a separate host. Consider your needs and how much you want to learn about web development so that you can select the best option.

6. Look at Themes and Templates

After you decide on the website builder you’ll use, you can find themes and templates. WordPress uses themes, while other builders have templates, but they do the same thing. A theme or template is the backbone of your website design, and you can usually customize it to meet your needs.

Having a good theme is crucial for your design. You can find themes that help your objective, such as an eCommerce theme for an online store or a blog theme for an online magazine.

7. Use a Page Builder

If you use WordPress, you can also look for a page builder to make developing pages quick and simple. WordPress uses a backend editor by default, so you can’t see your changes as you make them. But a page builder turns your site into a drag and drop editor, like what Squarespace and Wix offer.

You can download a page builder plugin from your WordPress dashboard. Then, you can create pages that look good and function well.

8. Develop a Mobile Version

Whether you use a page builder or not, you should create a mobile version of your website. Over half of web traffic comes from a mobile device, so you need your site to work well on a small screen.

Most website builders let you create a mobile version in the same editor. Then, you can make small adjustments to your desktop site so that it works on a mobile device.

9. Hire a Professional

Probably the most efficient way to develop your website more efficiently is to hire a professional developer. A developer will have more experience, so they can make changes and develop your site in less time than it would take you.

Then, you can focus on writing and gathering media files, and you can get your site up sooner. And you won’t have to deal with a ton of technical issues or waste time troubleshooting.

10. Add Your Content

After you or a developer finishes your site, you should add your content. Go into your word processor and open the files with the content for each page. Copy and paste the text into your website editor and upload your photos and videos.

Make sure the content looks good and change the layout if there are any issues. Now’s the time to make the site look good.

11. Preview the Site

Before you publish your website, you should preview it. Most website builders offer this option so that you can make sure text and images don’t run off the page.

If you do find any issues, you can change them in your editor. Preview the site again to make sure the issue is gone. Then, you can publish your site and start promoting it. Be sure to preview your site any time you make changes.

Developing a website involves a lot of steps, and it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, you can use these steps to make the development process more efficient so that you can get your site online.