CUSTOM WEBSITES
We provide custom websites which represent your business online and serve as a powerful marketing tool to gain more leads and communicate with your existing customers.
Hosting and Management
When we create websites, we don't just deliver the website and send you on your way.We recommend choosing one of our website management plans so that your website will be maintained, managed, and continually improved for you, and we will keep it up to date with your company’s content changes.
The Getting Started Process
The following is an approximate outline of the process to prepare you for what to expect and what you will need to provide. Here is a link to some website resources which may be needed. The actual events which occur in a project may vary.
1. Submit the Request Form
The information you provide on the Request a Quote Form will help us determine if we are a good match for your needs.
2. Discovery Meeting
We will have a meeting to review your existing website together (if one exists), and to discuss:
- your business and industry
- your business objectives
- specialization or niche
- what differentiates your business
- how the website will be used
- issues you’ve encountered in the past
- your preferences and example sites
- exact pages and other features needed
- integrations connected to the site
- the level of SEO and marketing needed
- whether you need content writing / editing included in the package
- potential start and finish dates
At the end of the meeting, we should have an idea of whether this project is one we both would like to move forward on together. If so, we obtain information needed to create a quote.
3. Website Audit
If it is highly likely that we will be taking on this project, we will invest more time into exploring your existing website and/or domain name.
Your website will be researched to note its features, software, issues, and search engine visibility. This includes taking an inventory of pages, posts, and media currently on the site.
4. Quote
Based on our discussion, research and recommendations, we will have an estimated scope of work from which to calculate a quote. We will present a quote and a list of items and information we will need to begin.
5. Materials Needed Deadlines
After discussing the quote and your ability to gather your logins, written content, logos, other specific media/images needed, an Agreement will be drawn up with a prospective timeline and deadlines for providing us with the materials.
6. Signed Agreement
Once an Agreement is signed and a deposit is paid, the clock begins ticking on providing the requested materials to us. written content, logos, other specific media/images needed, and other materials by the agreed deadline so we may begin work on the agreed start date. Our agreement contains terms and conditions regarding the delivery window and delayed projects.
7. Onboarding
Our system will prompt you sequentially to submit materials and content needed with our online forms. This will help you provide us with the information needed. Passwords are not to be submitted there. Everything will be saved to the project file in a client portal where you are automatically added.
With everything we need, we shall begin!
Next: See Design & Build Process.
The Design & Build Process
Overview
The following is an approximation, but actual projects may vary.
For the design phase we work with talented visual designers to create a pleasing user interface which incorporates aesthetic, usability, and concise copy placement. The design incorporates search engine optimization and conversion strategy to the extent of what is agreed upon.
It takes place in steps beginning with minimum viable products, the “Sitemap” and “Wireframe” which are designed to show the design ideas for review, revision, and then approval at each step. Upon arriving at a final approved design, the site will then be built with software and coding.
1. Sitemap
The design sitemap outlines “information architecture” of the website and functions like a flowchart. Creating the sitemap is the planning stage of what pages there will be, what kind of content will be on each page, how the pages will be grouped by relevance and arranged by hierarchy on the navigation menu.
Keywords for SEO (search engine optimization) are incorporated when naming pages and planning what kind of content will be on them.
Guiding the decisions are who the target audience is, how to provide a frictionless journey based on what they will be looking for, and what action you would like them to take.
The choices are based on my knowledge of your business objectives, analysis, and SEO principles. We then collaborate with the designer to refine the sitemap before they move on to designing the Wireframe.
2. Wireframe
This low fidelity outline drawing of the site is created as the first visual of how the website can be laid out in light of the goals, user intentions, and preferences. Once there is approval on all of the wireframes, the more detailed mockups will be produced.
3. Prototype Mockup
The designer adds color, fonts, images, and other details to represent a close graphical example of what the website will look like. Once approval is given, the website developer can prepare to create a website to look like the mockup.
4. Server Setup
In preparation for creation of the Website, space on a server is prepared to host a new website by installing software and configuring security settings. The domain name must be “pointed” to the website host.
5. Website Development
The website is developed as an interactive representation of the approved structure plan and mockups. The developer takes several days or weeks coding and developing the website. The pages are created and named, and the navigation menu is created listing them in the order as on the approved Sitemap.
The content and images you provided are placed into the pages. Style coding is written to achieve the design features on the approved Mockup. There is a phase of proofreading and testing.
Any agreed integrations are setup such as contact form submission notification service, automatic entry of email subscribers to your Mailchimp mailinglist, etc.
For each of these outside services, we may need your passwords & license keys or to be added as an account user.
After testing and final checking, the website design and creation is now complete.