Four Steps to a Brand New Website

How does a brand new website development project typically run from start to finish? I'm glad you asked. And the clichéd answer is that there's no typical website project, because ever client is different. And of course that's true. But not very helpful. So the following might give you a bit more of a clue.

Step One. We start with a friendly chat about why you need a website and how you expect it to benefit your organisation. At this stage you might present me with samples of business stationery, leaflets or literature and, where possible, digital copies of logos and images that you know you want to include. And perhaps you might point me in the direction of other sites you've seen that you aspire to emulate or that have a relevant design. Not that we'll be ripping off other people's intellectual property - it's just a helpful way of moving from a blank page to a first draft.

Step Two. After that consultation, you'll be given one or more mock-ups of how your site might look. If I'm trying to impress you, I'll call it a "creative treatment". But really they're mock-ups. These wouldn't usually be clickable web pages, just Photoshop graphics to give you an idea of colours, fonts and layout. We'll then talk these over and a second or third draft may or may not be required. Every job is different.

Step Three. Once we've agreed on that, we'll leave each another to get on with it for a while. You may have to write and compile several pages of content and photos while I'm beavering away making it all look good. We'll probably be in touch via email and 'phone a number of times and depending on your commitments and the urgency of the project, it might take anything from a few days to a few weeks. But the next time you see your website, it will be a working version that you can click on and interact with. And again I'll be expecting you to want to make changes and additions, because even if we've communicated very well, it still might not be quite the way you've imagined.

Step Four. After that, we're at the deployment stage. I'll take care of making the site live and help you as much as possible with irritating tasks like domain name registration and transfer as well as setting up your mailboxes. And of course you may well require some help in learning how to update the site yourself now that I've finished work.