Before we get started, I want to review our website project process so you’ll know exactly what’s going to happen with your project at different stages. In practice, there will be some overlap, but here’s an outline of the overall process:
Website Project Process Outline
Stage 1: Discovery
Discovery is focused on understanding your goals and the results you want to see from your website. This step is all about getting to know you and learning about your story, why, purpose, and big vision. We identify your ideal client, what they struggle with, what they need, how you can help, and what they will do on your website.
You’ll receive a detailed questionnaire then participate in a website strategy and planning meeting. You may already have some of this ready to go, which is great as it gives us a headstart, but we still need to familiarize with it and review it together to be able to deliver the best result.
Stage 2: Audit
It’s important to have a detailed look at where your website and/or business is at already so I can understand how best to reach your goals. Doing this early also helps identify any issues that may need addressing as a priority before delving deeper into the project planning process.
For this purpose, if you have an existing website, I do a technical audit on the development side, which includes looking at the key functionality of your website, what is and isn’t working, and what can be improved.
I also do a brief design audit, to identify where the current design is at, and where that could be improved in the short-term also. Discussing what is and isn’t satisfying about it can be of great help in any redesign process.
And I review your marketing plan to see where there is room for improvement and identify opportunities for growth. Depending on where you are at with marketing, we will do a separate marketing strategy call sooner or later.
Stage 3: Project Planning
This is arguably the most important step in the process. The cliché that “failing to plan is planning to fail” can really hold true here. In the short term, we often identify some short-term changes as a priority for your business, and aim to get those done sooner without the need for deeper planning. But beyond that, to succeed with your project, we need to plan out each of the different key aspects in more detail:
1. Development: What do your visitors needs to be able to do on your website and how can they do it? Identifying these core actions is key to planning a strategy to develop content and functionality in alignment with those goals.
2. Design: What do you want your visitors to experience as they do it?
What is the desired aesthetic look and feel that matches both your own branding and is appealing to your target audience? How do you want them to feel in response?
3. Marketing: What are the desired actions that you want your visitors to take? How does your business fulfill their needs and how can you lead them to take action to connect with you to fulfill those needs?
The purpose of this stage is to identify each of these needs and start to break them down into smaller parts. We’ll fill in the initial outline with a number of grouped tasks that constitute an overall “Statement of Work” for the next stage. We’ll also identify any areas that need more detailed planning via further breakdown. This process also means being able to give an increasingly accurate estimate to reduce the chance of budget blowouts.
It also means we can distinguish tasks that are needed to launch, versus tasks that can be left for the post-launch phase, which helps to launch sooner and then progressively roll these extra features out for your visitors later. In software terms this is typically referred to as “progressive enhancement”, whereas the initial launched website is an MVP – Minimum Viable Product.
The resulting project plan from these first 3 stages is a “Digital Roadmap” that’s used as a blueprint to build your website. Since this is something that is paid for separately at the outset, commencement of the project build …
You can even take the project elsewhere if the estimates don’t match your needs or budget.
Stage 4: Development and Design
With the overall planning in place, the actual work of putting the pieces together starts in earnest. Beginning with setting up and configuring the website, adding newly needed resources and pages, then deeper into any creating and testing any needed functionality. In our approach, we like to get this in place first as this is where it might involve custom coding and that can take some time to get right.
Content will be added and organized as it is provided. Then the initial draft design can be put in place, from colors and typography to imagery, this is where your website design will come to life and you’ll have opportunities to weigh in and offer input throughout the process. It usually takes some tweaking and adjustments to create a consistent look across the different features and sections of a website, so some patience is needed as we make this happen.
Stage 5: Testing and Training
Once everything is in place, you’ll review it, test it, and click through it to make sure everything is just right. We do our best to get everything working before this point, but sometimes there are still bugs or glitches that aren’t obvious during development, and this testing means you can provide some final feedback before going live. Depending on the scope of your project, it’s sometimes good to get a few “Beta Testers” from your business or family to try it out also, as different aspects of the user experience can be identified for improvement this way.
Pre-launch, you’ll also participate in a live training session to learn about the unique features of your site on the backend, and how to use them. This gives you the opportunity to familiarize yourself and ask questions with an expert at hand, rather than trying to learn how to navigate everything without help.
Stage 6: Launch and Marketing
With your approval, the new website will go live and be launched into the world. Celebration time! Well almost. While we do our best to try to ensure everything is ready to go, it’s still important at this stage to check things over after pushing it live, as sometimes glitches can happen! Hopefully not, but it’s best to be prepared just in case, as this can be very frustrating after all the hard work put in. To be safe, we make sure that we aren’t working on other projects on a launch day, so any urgent issues can be addressed as soon as possible.
Once satisfied on that front, the marketing strategy can be rolled out in earnest. Be patient with the marketing process as it may involve a combination of strategies that work at a different pace, and it’s not always obvious which strategies will work best. Be prepared to take orders or communicate with new customers/prospects. And pass on any reported issues that need our support so that we can look into them.
Stage 7: Operations and Improvements
At this point, your website may be done, but in terms of business operations, you’re just getting started! The key to a successful website that generates leads, attracts clients, creates opportunities, and makes money is caring for and using the site. Depending on your project, it usually needs to be updated frequently with new, valuable, relevant content and it needs to be marketed and promoted regularly.
And from our side, we’ll be looking at any “progressive enhancements” that were identified during the planning stage, and prioritizing those for implementation and rollout. We’ll have another strategy meeting around these so we can work on them at the pace that suits your needs and budget. We’ll work out a “maintenance contract” that includes keeping your website updated and also incorporates this ongoing work.
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