Web Development and Design

Website Basics: Getting Started

A website is a powerful tool to promote your department or organization. In the age of technology, many people do research online to find out more information about your programs. Having a website is a great way to build an online presence and provide that information clearly.

After your website is up, we recommend routinely checking your site at least once a month. Visit this website checklist to help you before and after your site’s launch. If you are using SiteFarm, some items in the checklist may not be applicable to you.

Humaan’s Website Checklist

UC Davis Web Resources

Sitefarm: Eligible UC Davis units can request a free website from SiteFarm. They host biweekly coworking sessions for you to ask questions and meet other developers on campus. You can also ask questions in the #sitefarm Slack channel. Join their mailing list to receive SiteFarm-related updates. Learn more about creating a website in SiteFarm through their videos, training and documentation.
Strategic Communications: UC Davis Strategic Communications provides resources on web best practices, including accessibility, search engine optimization, user experience, and more. They also provide office hours for web questions.
Courses: UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education offers an Introduction to Web Development Coursera course you can audit for free. Topics include the basics of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. UC Davis students can enroll in ECS 162: Web Programming to learn more advanced aspects of building websites (prerequisites apply).

Additional Web Resources

Information Architecture: Use information architecture to create a well-designed website that makes it easy for users to navigate.

Usability.gov: Learn what information architecture (IA) means and why it matters when creating your website.
Adobe XD: Check out this beginner’s guide to learn about the basics of information architecture when it comes to user experience (UX).
Web Designer Depot: This is the ultimate guide to learning about information architecture. This guide includes different principles of IA, technical terminology, and digital resources you can use to get started with IA.
UX Pin: This guide provides best practices in IA and explains the different methods you can use for designing your website’s IA.
UX Booth: Although information architecture and user experience are closely related, there is a difference. Read this article to learn the difference between IA and UX:

Accessibility: When we design for the web, it is important to make the information accessible for everyone.

W3C: Get an overview of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and read about W3C’s recommendations for web accessibility. WCAG is the shared standards for improving web accessibility.
UCLA’s Disabilities and Computing Program (DCP): The DCP at UCLA provides training on web accessibility and other resources.
WebAIM: WebAIM has articles and resources on web accessibility. Use their color contrast checker to check the contrast ratio for normal and large text. Read their overview on web accessibility principles and check out their WCAG 2 Checklist.
The A11Y Project: The A11Y Project has a great list of accessibility resources, including books, articles, meetups, and more. Check out their easy to follow checklist based on WCAG.
Moritz Giessmann: A practical cheatsheet to accessibility.
Strategic Communications: An article on web accessibility requirements and best practices from UC Davis Strategic Communications. UC Davis affiliated websites should reference the accessibility color combination palette.

Analytics: Web analytics is a powerful tool to gain insights on your website. Use analytics to create a better website experience for users.

Google Analytics: Most websites use Google Analytics to track visitors, user behavior, and more. Google provides free online courses for both beginners and advanced users. Check out Google’s YouTube playlists for more tutorials.
SiteFarm: Set up Google Analytics in your SiteFarm site with this guide.
Bitly: Track how many users click on your links to certain webpages. Upgrade to premium for a fee.
Digital Analytics Power Hour: A podcast full of episodes on web analytics.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Improve the quality of your website to have it easily discoverable by your audience.

SEO Starter Guide (Google): Google’s guide on best practices and basics of SEO. This guide teaches you how to get started, optimize your content and images, manage your website appearance on Google, and more!
The Beginner’s Guide to SEO (Moz): A beginner's guide to SEO. Moz explains SEO and why it is important, how search engines work, an overview of terms, and more!
Mobile-Friendly Test: Check if your website is mobile-friendly! While you’re at it, check the pagespeed of your site.
Google Trends: Discover what is trending around the world or locally in your area. Use for keyword research.
Bing Webmaster: Audit your website, conduct keyword research, and analyze backlinks.