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FIVE STEPS OF WEB SITE DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT, CONCEPT & DISCOVERY

Befor we can do anything on your site (or on any of your projects, for that matter) we have to know about who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish.  To do this we’ll ask some questions that will get us the information we need to start:
  •  Who are you? – Let’s start by determining a few basic issues about you and our business including what you do, what industry you’re in, who are your main competitors and where are you (and how does your location influence your business).  We will aso think about what you are trying to accomplish with your website – what it will be used for and if you’ll need to collect private information like passwords and credit cards.  Or will you need to set up an area that only certain members or clients can access?
  •  Who’s your Target Market? – This is the most important piece of information as knowing who you are trying to reach, will help us determine some critical things about your site such as what it should look like, what your customers needs to hear to make a buying decision, what we need to say to get your client to read your text, etc.
  •  SEO Keyword Analysis – when thinking about SEO, it’s important to put yourself in the position of your potential customer.  What would that customer type into a search engine in order to find you or your product?  This step is absolutely essential to get the right customers to your website. 
  •  Long term goals & messages – what do you need to tell the world about you and who you are?  How do you eventually see your business growing in the near future?  Next Year?  The year after that?  How will you know if you’ve reached your goals?

What should we say?  What “look & feel” would be best?

  • Site Structure – Once we’ve figured out who you’re targeting, who YOU are, what you need to say and look like in order to appeal to your target market, then we can start talking about the navigation structure of your site. To do this, it’s important to ask yourself what you need to say to your clients to sell your products or services.  Sometimes it helps to go back to your sales staff to have them give you a “mock sales pitch”.  If you do that listen carefully to the things your sales staff says when they’re selling your inventory, you’ll hopefully pick up on the most important things your clients need to know about who you are and what you do.  Also, what separates you from your competitors?  What features and benefits do your products or services have?  Why would anyone buy YOUR product vs someone elses’ product?  How should you organize your website to present that information most LOGICALLY to your site visitor – be sure and start with who you are and what you do.  Then outline what products or services you sell.  Then what about service or support?  Also how can your clients buy from you?  Can they visit their local retailer? – then tell them that!  Can they purchase your offerings online, provide them with a link!  Make sure you have an area where clients can see how your customers feel and show plenty of customer testimonials and ratings.  End with your contact info and make it easy for your potential and existing clients to reach you.  IF you ave a big site, make sure the visitor can search your site for what they need.  Also consider any special functionality your site may need – do your clients need a private area where you can present their information to them behind a “password access”?  Is your product digitally deliverable like Music is or an online book?  If so the client has to be able to pay for and access your product online and will need  whole set of pages relating to that.  We’ll help you think this out – so don’t let it overwhelm you, however think about the basics of what your clients need to see when they get to your site and that will help us to help you think of what needs to be said and how your site needs to be organized.
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  •  Branding – Branding of your site will help to strengthen the identity of your web page and allow customers to buy into your brand. This can include logos, banners and accreditations you may have gained.
  •  Visual Design – This is one of the most creative parts of the process allowing you to build your brand even further. Your target audience should be kept in mind when you think about your visual design.
  •  Content – texts and graphics – This is the bulk of your site and what people will see when they hit your site. This may be information about your brand, the services or products you offer, an interactive blog, contact details or a mission statement. There’s a reason why a potential customer landed on your page so ensure your content is consistent throughout.
  •  Coding – This is the development stage where the website itself is physically created. Typically a homepage and a shell will be made which will act like a template for the content itself, this will show the overall look and navigation system.

TESTING

Before the site goes live to an audience, and potential customers, testing needs to occur to ensure that the site functions how it should. The site will then be made live to only internal users – or those with an invite – so that any content, compellability or functionality issues can be fixed. Compatibility testing will be performed across different browsers and devices in order to fix any potential coding issues. This will ensure that the site is responsive and works well.

LAUNCH

Once the site has been launched and is live you will want to get feedback from the target audience. This can be in the form of e-mails, pop-ups or other interactive measures.After some initial tweaking of the site and checks that everything is running as it should the SEO campaign can be begun.

MAINTENANCE

(OFFERED SEPARATELY)Websites are living and breathing creatures, so they need constant care. Our maintenance and support package includes the following features:
  • Script and plugin updates to ensure optimum speeds and usability
  • Browser compellability period testing
  • Security monitoring and response
  • On page SEO to ensure your site is optimized
  • Periodic backups to ensure all of your website is fully backed up just in case
  • Downtime support
  • Minor customer related updates
  • Consultation and guidance on future products and steps moving forwards
No two development projects are the same, from what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it to the look and feel of their website. Despite the differences you should always keep these key elements in mind when you are in the process of planning and implementing your next development project.You can read more detailed information about each step or feature in our contracts and proposal documents.
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