Our Development Process

Step 1: Discovery Phase

The planning phase of a website design project begins when you contact us either through our project inquiries form on our website or via the telephone. We will get some basic information from you regarding your project and then set an appointment for either an over-the-phone or in-person meeting to complete a comprehensive Needs Analysis Profile for your project. Our goal is to understand as much about your project as much as we can. In this meeting we spend about two hours reviewing your requirements and plans for your online presence. This includes your current and future marketing plans, advertising materials, objectives for a web presence, preferences for the visual design of the website, likes and dislikes using other websites as examples in addition to any on-line processes that are to be incorporated into the project. We will then review the information gathered and have an estimate of the cost of your project to you within one week. To begin your project, we will require a 50% down payment with a completed Web Development agreement.

Step 2: Planning and Content Gathering Phase

When we have finalized the details of working together, we will provide your primary contact person with a detailed list of the types of content needed to build your complete your website project including written content, images, databases, spreadsheets, pdf documents, audio/video files and more. We will continue to follow-up with your team until we have received all of the materials that we need. This information will be used to create your website outline and sitemap for your review and approval.

Step 3:  Graphic Design and Site mock-up

Once we have all of your content and the planning is finished, we will begin the process of developing the visual aspects of your new website including page mock-ups and a style guide. Using the information gathered from the Needs Analysis Profile, we will develop a design concept for your website. Our projects usually go through two rounds of mock-ups. Our first phase of mock-ups concentrates on general concepts and content placement.  We will usually present two or three ideas at this point. After we receive feedback from you, we refine those ideas into a single design. Once you are pleased and have signed-off on the final look and feel of your site, we will move into the production phase of the project. A second payment of 25% will be required to begin the next phase.

Step 4: Production Phase

A variety of technology is used to code and implement the finalized design concept settled on in the previous step. We will provide you with a link to the project development site on our server so that you can view and follow the work as it progresses. During this phase, there will be ongoing review and testing of the links, navigation, browser compatibility and usability to make sure your site works well for your target audience.

Step 5: Final Review & Live Website Launch

At this stage, we will ask for your final review of the site and sign-off approval in addition to making the final 25% payment before the site can be launched. Once your website is launched and living in its final domain, our involvement with your site is entirely up to you. Since we build our sites with a content management system, you can manage and update your site yourself without our help or additional charges. Alternatively, you can inquire about our maintenance plan if you would like us to manage the site for you.

Regular Status Meetings

During the process of development, we find it helpful to have in-person or over the phone status meetings at regular intervals to review the progress of the project and discuss feedback.