Designing a website is a multi-step process. The following is a brief outline of the steps it will take to get your website up and running on the internet. Depending on the project, the clients’ needs, time frame, and budget, we may not go through the steps in this order, but we will cover them all to some degree.
Consultation & Proposal
First we offer a free initial consultation so that we may gain an understanding of your company and your website needs. Then we submit a proposal that will outline the content to be developed, the graphic and technical requirements, proposed timeline, and the estimated costs.
Planning, Strategy & Research
Upon proposal approval, we begin by gathering information about your company, services, audience, purpose, site goals and more using our custom checklist. This helps us to learn the objectives and goals for your business and the project. Additionally we will research your company, clients, competition, and target market or industry.
Content & Structure
Then we start collecting content for your website: logo files, photos of your staff or place of business, catalogs, text, social media links, etc. Using information you provide, we will then outline the site architecture. This will be the structure and navigation of the site.
Design, Review, Optimization & Finalize
Next we develop graphic design for your site such as color palettes, fonts, custom graphic images/buttons/headlines, photos and illustrations, etc. This will be how the site looks relative to the nature of your business and your target audience. We’ll go back and forth with drafts, fine-tuning the look and feel of the site until a design is established and ready to be used for your website. Search Engine Optimization is part of this process, which will help your site gain competitive search engine placement.
Site Development, Testing & Debugging
We will next proceed to “put it all together” by combining the graphic elements, the content, and the structure. If you requested any special scripting (contact forms, feedback forms, databases, reservation systems, etc.) those will be integrated into a working mockup of your site. This will also serve to test website load time, browser testing, resolution testing and the overall performance of your site.
Launching Your Site
When everything looks great, we will launch your site. You can now start advertising your site, telling friends and business acquaintances, and publishing printed materials containing your website address. We will submit your website to the top search engines.
Maintenance
Keeping the content on your site fresh and relevant to your business and your audience will keep your site interesting. We can also help you with regular site maintenance, either on an as-needed hourly or regularly scheduled recurring basis. Or, we can train you to make minor text modifications yourself.
Measurement
We offer regular and ongoing statistics regarding the utilization of your web pages/site.