Steps: Learn about the process of web site design, development, deployment, marketing, and maintenance. Quality websites at affordable prices. Specializing in Flash development... ads, tutorials, websites, logos, animations, email attachments, movies, Remoting, Flash Remoting
1. Planning your website
2. Developing your website
3. Overall Design Considerations
1. Planning your Website
Planning before starting the construction of a website is just as important as the construction process itself. It sounds obvious, but it's easy to jump in with both feet before thinking through some of the issues outlined below.
AUDIENCE, AUDIENCE, AUDIENCE!
We've all heard the old real estate adage "location, location, location." On the Web, the operative word is "audience." Identifying your audience and determining the information they seek is the key to a successful website.
Communication Goals
The next step is to formally state your communication goals. Your organization may have strategic goals that it wishes to support with the website. Do you want to sell, inform, reinforce branding or identity, recruit? What do you want your audience to remember about you when they leave your site?
Your website can do a lot of things... it can complement traditional marketing and customer service initiatives. It may be used to automate current business processes. It can be used to exchange information with clients, business partners, or the media. It can present forms to be filled out online, or replace a printed publication with an electronic one.
2. Developing your Website
While the nature and scope of projects vary widely, the following will give you a general idea of a typical website development project's life cycle.
Preparing for our first meeting
Send us any existing printed or electronic materials that you think might be helpful. Your existing materials help us get familiar with your organization and its marketing attitude. Start noting the addresses of any sites that you like the look-and-feel of, or have features you'd like to incorporate. Copies of strategic plans or similar documents can also help us prepare.
Before we get together, think about some of the topics discussed here. Write your ideas down. Email us your thoughts and favorite sites. Be prepared to ask us lots of questions, as we'll have lots of questions for you.
Initial Meeting
Our primary goal here is to learn about your business and your customers. We want to get a good idea of WHAT you do, and WHO you do it with. This will determine the goals for your website.
You will also get to know more about us, including our design philosophy and general approach to development. We look at all of your existing marketing materials, and try to gain an initial understanding of what you want your site to look like. We'll ask about other sites you've visited that have features you like. We'll ask about your competitors, and look at their websites, too. Typically, budget issues are also discussed.
Brainstorming
Back in our office, we review ideas culled from conversation and read any printed materials that have been provided. We conduct an analysis of competing websites and look for ways our client's website could differentiate itself from these. We look at any websites cited by the client. We do a formal "link-to" analysis to determine where and how to link your site to existing portals. We ask follow-up questions and may request additional meetings, depending on the scope of the project. Often, we'll put together an initial prototype detailing the general layout and workings of the home page. This helps us ensure that we're on the same page as our client.
Detailed Proposal
This is the formal proposal for your website's development. The site's overall layout, content, navigation, buttons, and any special features are detailed. Browser storyboards may be presented and estimates of time and costs are provided.
Develop Online Prototype
Implementation work begins on a prototype, hosted on a secure, non-public, location on one of our servers. Copy and images are selected. Graphics, menus, layout, and text treatments are created.
Review, Refine, and Develop (until done)
As the prototype is developed, we ask our clients to monitor its progress closely. Open and honest communication is essential, as changes and refinements are made on a continual basis. Clients will say "Oh, I like that!", or "Whoa, that's not right" as we go. This is part of the process of refining the prototype until the final website is complete. As clients become involved with their own websites, their objectives often change. Opportunities appear and new ways of incorporating the website into business processes become apparent.
Final Review
After the prototype has been refined per client feedback, a final review of the site is made by both parties. All copy and images are checked, functionality is tested, necessary changes are made, and the site is approved for release.
Site Goes Public
The prototype is copied from our development server to one of our public Web servers, or onto the client's or another public server.
Promotion and Registration
Promotion can begin prior to public unveiling. Shortly after the website's release we will register it with the primary Internet search engines and may send out press releases to appropriate news organizations.
Design Refreshes
Browsers and other Web technologies continue to change at a rapid pace. Sites which do not keep up may appear stale in comparison with newly-designed sites. While it is not necessary to redesign your website each time a new browser or technology is unveiled, there will come a time when continued viability requires design changes. Also, as clients become involved with their own websites, their objectives often change. Opportunities appear and new ways of incorporating the website into business processes become apparent. These can drive redesign as much as changes in technology.
Installation and Support
After we're done building the site, we'll help you choose the proper hosting service for your needs. Most clients spend less than $150/year to host their site and maintain their COM or ORG names. That, my friends, is a deal.
At Williams Chase, we do not view the initial rollout as our final deliverable of our development process. After the initial launch, you'll probably need a little on-going support. No Problem. We understand. We anticipated this. Just call us, and we'll help you out.
We've been doing custom software development for over twenty years now, and we wouldn't have long-term clients if we didn't back up our systems with solid, no-nonsense support (the bill's already been paid... it's included in your development fees!) But, if you find that you're calling often, we'll look at the reasons why, and help you come up with a affordable remedy to the problem.
3. Overall Design Considerations
A website has conceptual, visual, organizational, and technical elements that must be considered during the design process. The following reflects some of our experience.
Conceptual Design
Creation of a client's website starts with defining potential audiences and formulating appropriate communication goals for each. WHO will use the site, WHAT will they use it for, WHEN will they use it, and HOW will they use it?
Visual Design
Visual design encompasses graphic elements, color combinations, font sizes and styles, page layout, and the association of graphical elements with textual content. A successful website conveys an image consistent with an organization's visual identity and communication goals.
Organizational Design
A website may look attractive or contain a wealth of information, but surveys show that if users are unable to easily find what they are looking for, most won't have the patience to stick around. We create clear audience-oriented global menus that effectively reflect top-level categories of content. We present navigation consistently. Finally, we design our movies and movie layering in such a way that the site not only looks cool, it loads up quickly for all of your customers.
Technical Design
While the proliferation of cable modems and digital subscriber lines has brought faster Internet access to many, the majority of internet users still connect using a phone line and a modem. Web sites MUST be designed with this in mind. Too many website designers forget this key fact, resulting in slow-loading sites that are quickly bypassed. At Williams Chase, our sites not look cool, they load up quickly. We put our 20+ years of custom software development experience to work for you to develop a site that your customers will love to visit, again and again.
