Attack Overview - Video

There are generally two reasons an individual or an organization is attacked.  One, you are specifically targeted or two, you are a target of opportunity.
Any good hacker will take a few common steps to attack a site these can generally be ordered from 1-4.

1. Reconnaissance
2. Scanning
3. Research Vulnerabilities
4. Performing the attack

See the video here -  https://www.securityorb.com/general-security/attack-overview-video/