At Newpath, we take great pride in creating high-quality, bespoke websites, that please the particular needs of our clients. But times have changed, and companies in all industries want sites that are not only pretty but scalable, secure, and manageable. Drupal is among those platforms that can make this real for us. But what really sets us apart is how our team of expert Drupal developers maximises Drupal’s potential through a refined custom website development process.
Why We Use Drupal for Custom Website Development
But before going into any specifics on how we work, let’s get into the ‘why’ Drupal is our platform of choice for so many projects.
Drupal is a free and open-source web content management framework that, for its advantages in flexibility, scalability, and security, is greatly used. It’s particularly well-suited for large websites with complex content needs, such as those in government, education, healthcare, and e-commerce. Unlike some more constraining platforms, Drupal enables limitless customisation-developers can create fully tailored solutions.
But while Drupal is powerful, much understanding is needed to open up its full potential. That is where our experienced developers at Drupal come in.
Step 1: Understanding the Client’s Vision
At Newpath, we believe any successful website project starts with a true understanding of the needs and goals of the client. Our bespoke website development process always starts with a detailed discovery phase where we work closely with our clients to figure out what they want to achieve with their new website.
What are their business objectives?
Who is their target audience?
Which functionalities and features do they need?
The answers to such questions provide our team with a clear understanding of the project’s scope and requirements. It provides the insight necessary for building a website that looks awesome but serves its purpose at the same time.
In addition, because Drupal has the ability to host complex, multi-faceted websites, one of the key advantages when using Drupal is it can cater to the demands of clients wanting an online store, customer portal, or interactive blog by customising the same platform to their requirements.
Step 2: Planning and Design of Architecture
Once we have a clear vision of the client’s goals, we move into the planning phase. This entails designing the architecture of the website, which essentially is like drawing a blueprint of how the website will be structured and how its features will function.
But the strong point with Drupal, at least, is its modular architecture: it allows developers to choose among thousands of prebuilt modules that extend the functionality of the platform. However, no projects are ever alike, and that is where custom website development comes in.
Our team at Newpath doesn’t just rely on out-of-the-box solutions. We assess each project on an individual basis and decide which modules are useful and where custom development is required to achieve a particular goal for our client. For instance, if a client requires a highly customised workflow or content types not ordinary in nature, our developers will create these features from scratch using Drupal’s solid framework.
That’s where planning and architecture design create the foundation that allows for flexibility and scaling. If we get the content and features of a website right from the start, it’s so much easier to manage and expand as the business continues to grow.
Stage 3: Custom Design and Development
This is where the magic happens. The moment the architecture is in place, our Drupal developers plunge deep into the actual process of custom website development and target, majorly, two areas: design and functionality.
Custom Design for User Experience (UX)
Great design at Newpath means more than just looking pretty. It’s about an intuitive, enjoyable user experience. Our design staff collaborates with each client closely to ensure the website’s visual elements represent their brand while extending seamless navigation and usability.
One of the strong powers of Drupal is the ability to have completely custom themes for our clients. This is something quite impossible with other CMS systems, which by nature are template-driven. Drupal gives our designers a great deal of freedom in creating designs that can be extremely simple or very complex. This will let us devise websites that appear different, provide a great user experience, and are optimised for both desktop and mobile.
Custom Functionality using Drupal Modules
On the development side, our Drupal developers are busy implementing the functionality of the website. As extensive as the Drupal module library is, there’s always a case where one needs to implement custom modules to fit the exact needs of a project.
For example, if a client needs a custom e-commerce solution or a special user authentication system, we use the powerful API provided by Drupal to build those elements. This means the website will be tailored to our client’s exact needs without excessive bloat or limitations.
But perhaps one of the best things about Drupal is that it’s built to scale: as a business grows often does its website traffic, and its need to support multiple users and new systems. Because Drupal is modular by design, our custom website development process makes it relatively easy to add new features and scale the website without interrupting the features that exist.
Step 4: Quality Assurance and Testing
Once the work of custom design and development is complete, next in line will be thorough Quality Assurance and Testing. At Newpath, we take testing seriously to ensure that every website we build is not only functional but also secure, fast, and reliable.
Functional Testing: The purpose of this is to test all features and workflows against their specifications. This covers the testing of commercial, out-of-the-box Drupal modules and custom code we have written.
Performance Testing: We optimise the website for speed to make certain it will go online quickly and efficiently when there is heavy traffic.
Security Testing: With Drupal, security matters, which is why we go the extra mile to ensure the security of the website against any vulnerabilities. This is because our Drupal developers are fully abreast of the latest patches and best practices in security. Testing is a critical phase that ensures the final product meets both our internal standards and the client’s expectations.
Step 5: Ongoing Operational Support and Improvement
At Newpath, we don’t just develop websites and then walk away. We believe in long-term partnerships with our clients, supporting them once the website has gone live with optimisation services that will keep your website fresh for a long time to come. This means everything from routine security updates to adding new features as our client’s business evolves. Owing to the nature of Drupal, new functionality can be added down the road relatively easily.
Our clients appreciate that this allows them to expand their websites without having to rebuild from scratch. We also monitor the website’s performance and user experience, offering insights and recommendations on how to improve conversions, reduce bounce rates, and enhance overall engagement. In other words, we’re always working to help our clients get the most out of their investment.
Conclusion: Why Newpath’s Approach Maximises Drupal’s Potential
Newpath is committed to providing the highest-order custom website development services, of which Drupal is one of those key tools. Keeping up with clients’ proper close collaboration and taking the ability of our Drupal developers into action, we at Newpath follow a step-by-step process for building each website for flexibility, scalability, and optimisation to grow.
Whether you’re looking to build a complex e-commerce site or a simple blog, our team has the experience and technical know-how to maximise Drupal’s potential for your business. If you’re ready to take your website to the next level, let’s start a conversation.
