The Process
The eight steps to a website that makes customers go 'Wow!'.
What does it take to create a website that has you and your customers thinking 'This is awesome!'? The eight steps that follow outline the entire process of creating an engaging website.
Cibolo Media Services believes in responding to requests, rather then just listening to them. You and I will work together to create the best possible website for you. We start by taking a comprehensive look at why you need a website. We'll find out what will bring users to your site and how we can capitalize on their presence. This is the first step to a website that wins.
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Step 1. Begin industry research
Before any designs are sketched out, it's best to know as much about your new site as possible. Here's a sampling of questions to answer:
- What will drive users into the site?
- What untapped markets can you capitalize on?
- What value with the users find on the site, what will make them return?
- How does competition succeed/fail?
- Are there any revenue streams your new website can make available?
- What keyword are users thinking about when searching?
- How will users be visiting the site?
- With what type of device? Internet enabled devices like cell phones and gaming systems bring a whole new look to the web. Make sure that users can get your street address from their cell phone if they're out running errands and want to stop by.
- In what environment? is just as important because you don't want to use audio if they'll be looking at your website at the library.
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Step 2. Create website content
Before the design phase begins, it's important to look at what the actual content on your site will look like. We'll start by listing out all your pages in an onion diagram. This will map out every page on your site and how they should connect to each other.
Next, we'll create a majority of content for the website, so that the design can best fit the content. Using the research from before, the content will be targeted and engaging. Once we have a satisfactory amount of content, the design phase can begin.
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Step 3. Design
Using the content we just created, we'll determine the type of page layouts needed and how each page should function. Normally, you want designs for each of the following:
- The home page
- A general page
- Any pages that require special functionality like the contact page
Each design will try to cover all possible scenarios (e.g. a little or a lot of content), so that we end up with a layout that is flexible and adaptable.
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Step 4. Design Review process
When I finish with each layout design, the work will be passed back to you for approval. This process is restricted, because we're not creating a design for you, we're creating a design for your website. In other words, it's not meant to satisfy your personal tastes, but rather your user's needs.
- Only two cycles of revisions per page.
- The design is sent to you
- You return with feedback.
- Feedback is implemented and sent back over to you
- You return with final feedback
- Feedback is implemented and will be shown to you during the final approval process.
- Only major changes allowed, minor changes if still fits in to design
- Changing colors by going a 'smidge' lighter or darker is discouraged1 1While they seem small, these changes can add weeks to the process and increase overall costs. They also rarely work because each monitor displays colors differently and getting consistent results is rare.
Once all the designs have been created, they will be passed back to you for a final go ahead. By then we should have addressed the major issues, so approval should be quick.
Many people have a tendency to make design comments only after the development phase has finished. I usually don't allow this because it is too costly to make changes at that point in time. Be sure you're okay with the look before giving final approval.
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Step 5. Development
Now the development phase begins on your new website. I won't go into much detail, but be assured that you will be kept up-to-date on the progress being made. Depending on the size of the site, the development phase can take between two weeks and two months.
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Step 6. Testing/Quality Assurance
When the development process finishes, the new website will go through a thorough testing phase. You will be asked to give feedback about the functionality of your new website, but be sure to keep design comments limited. The time for those comments was during the design phase, and any changes now can be costly and time consuming.
At this time you should pass the new website to friends and family. Ask them to look for places where they get confused or where the website doesn't seem right. They'll probably want to make suggestions about the design or content, but encourage them to focus on the overall experience and not their personal tastes.
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Step 7. Advertising and SEO
Now that your website is ready to go live, it needs visitors to make it come alive. By now a solid plan for driving traffic to your site will have been drafted. Now is the time for implementation. Here are some ways visitors will get to your site:
- Search Engines
- Keyword advertisement including Search Engine Marketing
- Directory Listings
- Link Exchanges
- Community Forums
- Publishing articles in online magazines
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Step 8. Training
Now that you've got a website that is engaging customers and improving business, it's time for you to take the reins of your site. In order to prevent your site from becoming obsolete in two years, you'll need training on how to maintain and update your website. This training will include:
- Managing the content on your website
- A brief HTML class covering accessibility
- Tracking visitors and their habits
The Result:
A website that is Search Engine friendly, accessible to the elderly and disabled, and the content will be manageable by you or your staff. Get started on your new website by contacting me through my guided contact page.