Preparation: Identify Target Goal
 Website Preparation
What do you hope to achieve? Your website should not be a sample platter of your company, unless that's your goal of course. When developing your site, think of the end goal. The 'end goal' should be the overriding purpose of what you intend to achieve through your site. Plan the site so that each page and each section therein will highlight the end goal of the website. If your company sells widgets, for example, each page should have the goal of enriching the widget purchasing experience and pushing customers toward their ultimate widget purchase. This includes detailed information pages about key features of your product. Your widget website should also contain other relevant information such as widget history pages, client testimonials about your widgets, complementary product offerings, etc; all of which should lead to increasing your widget sales. The importance of end results applies to any type of business model.
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Website Design
 Website Design
Web Branding
A website can be viewed as your digital fingerprint on the web. Your concept, your style, and your message will all be on display in one way or another when it comes time to design your website. And along with basic design, the idea of web branding is extremely important and a focal point amongst most large companies. Anytime a user visits your website, it should be clear to them that they arrived at the right place by the way in which your site is set apart by branding and design. Flexibility for the Entire Site In the same way that each visit to your website should reaffirm your brand, each individual page within the website should be kept on brand. More specifically, as long as a user is within the confines of your website, the company brand should remain strong and visible. Individual web pages will surely vary in content and intent, but the principle brand identity must be present site wide. |
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Implementation:Develop and Code
 Website Implementation
Functionality from focus
By this point, a project's focus should have already been determined as part of the Target Goal phase. From this end-goal, the necessary (and sometimes unnecessary, but really cool) functionality can be conceptualized to meet the project's specific needs. During this process, the programming department will come up with a list of requirements from servers to certificates to meet those needs. Implementation + Programming = Website Once the functionality of a site has been decided upon, it's time to program all of those bells and whistles. This can be anything from simple things like contact forms and Google directions, to more complicated things like content or inventory management and credit card processing. Don't worry, we do it all. Besides programming, there is another equally important step that must be taken toward the completion of the project. Layouts must be implemented. This means taking the visual concepts created by designers and translating them into HTML and CSS for use as web pages. Programming and implementation are usually the longest phases of any project, but at the same time, they are also the most important. |
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Launch and Monitor
Timing is Everything
It is critical to launch your website during a low traffic period where the following days will be as calm as possible. This includes avoiding a big launch on Thursdays or Fridays, as trouble shooting over the weekend is never fun. This situation worsens considerably when you have a technical problem, such as a sever issue, with a company that's closed over the weekend or difficult to get a hold of. Another low traffic period to consider for large web launches or web updates is during the middle of the night. These timing decisions become exceedingly important with websites that contain an increased level of complexity and generate substantial amounts of web traffic. Monitor Website Stability Along with preparing for a site launch, it's important that you closely monitor the website post launch. This is especially true immediately following the launch, as this becomes the first real test of the product. New factors are introduced and issues can arise after a successful web launch. Although we would all like a smooth site launch, that doesn't always happen as unforeseen issues crop up in areas that you would least expect them to. It's better to play it safe and thoroughly oversee your website through the transition period. |
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Upkeep and Marketing
Advertise Your URL Everywhere
How do you begin to generate traffic to your spiffy new or redesigned website? Well, firstly, let people know you have a new website. Start with the easy stuff; put your website URL address on all of your business and marketing collateral. This includes business cards, flyer's, brochures, signage, e-mail signatures, and anywhere else that might reach your desired audience. Even if people don't remember the exact web address, they will remember that you have a website and a quick search on Google can take care of the rest. Online Marketing There are many ways to market your website online. There are some relatively inexpensive ways (ie SEO Management) however, most online advertising costs money, much like traditional off-line advertising campaigns. Pay-Per-Click programs such as Adwords in which you bid on search engine keywords are one of the most common forms of online advertising. Another way is to purchase banner ads, which is essentially buying advertising space on other websites for a set period of time. Online advertising prices for each of these ad methods can very depending on site traffic and the target demographic of the users. |
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