|
We believe our clients should know what they
can expect of us and what should expect of them.
Your web site will be a team effort. We know web
development. You know what you like. We need to merge those two
aspects in order for your web site to become a reality. We
believe in working closely with clients in a friendly yet
professional manner. We'll get to know each other well during
this process, therefore it is important that our goals for
your site are the same . We both want to be pleased with
the results and enjoy the experience of seeing your site
take birth.
Step 1: Let's get acquainted!
We
like to conference with potential clients by e-mail.
Through discussion we decide if we are
right for each other. In our initial contact, we will ask
you to tell us a little bit what it is that hope to achieve
with your site. We will ask you about different
functions you may require for your site such as a shopping
cart or forms. We also ask you to send the urls (web site
addresses) of several sites that you find appealing either in
the way they are laid out, or the colors they use or any other
factor that you like about a site. This gives us an idea of what you like. Looking
at what appeals to you will give us something to go on in
order to create the site you have in mind. We can then suggest
ways to improve on ideas you have seen to make your site
customized to your needs and those of potential site visitors.
We can then discuss how many pages your site will entail, what
kind of features you want for your site, who your target
audience and current customers are, after which we can give
you a quote. If we both feel we have communicated well and can
work together to create a site, we can move on to:
Step 2: Get it in writing
As a business
person, you know how important it is
for all parties in a business arrangement to understand what
is expected of them. We do not begin to develop a site without a
25% deposit. If after the work begins and
you decide you want different features on your site than was
discussed for the quote, a change order can be submitted. Removing features may result in a reduction in price or additional features may be added at
additional cost.
Step 3: Your site needs a home / e-commerce
If your site is new, it must be hosted by a hosting company and your new
domain name will have to be set up. Choosing a hosting company
is just as important as choosing your designer. We offer hosting services
in conjunction with our development or you may have a different hosting company.
Before you sign up for one, lets discuss what you will
need for hosting your particular site. If your site will
require special scripts, you may need a hosting package that
includes PHP or Perl If your site is for adults (duh!!),
you may need to find hosting who accept such sites.
If you require a shopping cart for your site where
visitors can buy items directly from your site, you have
several options. For most e-commerce sites,
a basic shopping cart is usually sufficient. In order for you
to be able to accept credit cards orders, directly, you will need to have
a merchant account. Check with your bank to see what they
offer and/or do a search on the Internet to view merchant
account options. Alternatively, if you do not want the expense
of a merchant account, there are some very good transaction processing
services offered on the net (we usually recommend PayPal for sites but their 'Acceptable Use Policy effectively excludes adult services; we are now recommending Moneybookers for our adult content sites.). You want to make it as easy as possible for
you customers to purchase your items.
Step 4: The mock up.
Since we now
will have an idea of what you are looking for, we will then
create a mock up or "rough draft" of your site. This is the
time to decide if the layout of the site is what you had in
mind, if the colors are correct, if you want to rename pages,
go for a different look etc. We then make the changes you
request to complete a final template that we will use for your
site. After the site template is exactly the way you want it,
you will "sign off" on it , stating that this is what you
want. Once you have signed off on the site, any MAJOR changes
which involve changes to layout, and /or graphics to the site
will be nearly impossible. For instance, if you decide after
this point that you want to add more pages, causing the
navigation to be reconfigured on every page of a site that is
90% complete,you WILL incur additional cost.
(Of course if you only want to change some text here and
there, or move a graphic, there is no extra charge for that.
We will only charge extra for major changes to the design! And
of course, only if it's your request and not our mistake.)
Step 5: Your Turn!
After the
template is ready to add content to, it's time for you to get
busy! This is when you will need to send the text for each
page in your site and any photographs you want on the site.
Text is a very important component of a web site. Text
communicates what you want your visitors to know about your
business and is a key in getting your listed in search engines
once your site is online. Before you write your text, put your
self in the place of a potential visitor. If you were a
customer looking for your business by doing a search at a
search engine what words would you use in a search box? You
want to work those keywords into your text. When a search
engine spiders your site in order to see whether or not they
will list you in their engine, many will look to see if your
keywords are included in your text. We will be happy to make
suggestions on improving your text to help optimize it for
search engine placement.
Your Graphics (photographs) are also an important part of
your site. They add to the look of your site and let visitors
know what is you. While you don't have to hire a professional
photographer if it is not in your budget, keep in mind that
photographs reflects on you professionally and may influence
how potential customers perceive your business.If you cannot
hire a professional photographer, either buy or borrow a good
digital camera to photograph yourself. Photograph on a plain
background. Keep in mind that customers want to see you in as
much detail as possible.
Step 6: When will it be
finished?
In our initial discussion we will
talk to you about what your anticipated launch date will be.
We will do everything in our power to meet reasonable
deadlines and will plan with you what it will take to make
that deadline. some of our sites have been ready in as little as three days while others have taken closer to three months!
In order to meet deadlines, we need you to get site
contents - such as text and photographs - to us in a timely
manner. Don't wait until a few days before your launch to
send the bulk of your material. Your site may not be ready in
time. If you wait weeks to get the material to us after you
have signed off on the design please don't expect us to drop
work on another client's site to rush yours.We
schedule time to give each client the personalized service
they deserve.
Step 7 : It's a Go!
When your
site is completed and the final payment has been received we
will then upload source files to your server. Are we finished
now? No! Now is the time to actively market your site and
submit it to search engines.
Step 8: promote it!
We've all
seen that commercial that shows a new site going online and 2
seconds later, the orders start pouring in and it's instant
millions! It doesn't happen like that. That is TV! In
the "real world" it takes time and effort to promote your
site. After your site is online we will submit it to several hundred
search engines.That means we contact each search
engine and give them the information that
they require to go have a look at your site and decide whether
or not they will list you. Some search engines use "real
people" and some use "robots" that will spider your site
looking for particular things. All search engines are
different in their requirements to add you to their
directories.
It may take several weeks to several months to
get listed in search engines. DO NOT EXPECT RESULTS
OVERNIGHT! - unless you're willing to pay for it! If you establish
an advertising budget, you can ask us about 'pay-per-click' ads that
WILL place you at the top of searches.
Step 9: Maintenance of your
site.
If you have a site that requires
frequent updates such as adding new photos to your site or
updating schedules , you may choose to have us maintain your
site, or you can choose to do it yourself if you are willing
to take the time learn how . If you choose to do it yourself,
we strongly recommend taking a class or tutorial at a local
community college and/or studying on your own by taking online
tutorials on using the software you purchase to make changes.
If you or someone else in the process of updating the site
damages your code or the files in your FTP directory are
damaged , we can repair them additional price. If you would
like to update text or graphics on your site, a good program
to use is Macromedia Dreamweaver MX.
Step 10: Whew!
This sounds like a
lot of work doesn't it? Having a successful on line presence
is a lot of work. If you are not committed to promoting your
site, doing your homework, and keeping up with what is current
on the net, you may not want to spend your money on a web
site. A web site is a marketing tool.
You have to be willing to learn how to use this tool to
it's best advantage.
Our objective during this process is to be able to
communicate with you and determine your needs in order to to
build a site that looks great, functions well and has a good
chance of being ranked well in search engines. The second
objective is to educate you, the client, on what it takes to
have a successful site. If you are committed to this endeavor
and feel that my style of customer service is what you had in
mind, let's go back to Step 1 !  |
Web
Development
