These steps apply to just about all web projects we undertake. In some cases you may already have a specification or artwork ready to go which can help to speed up the process.
Before we begin any designs or technical work, we talk to you to get the full picture of how your website will fit in with your business objectives. This includes finding out how you expect your website to look and function, how it will be maintained, what the budget and timeframe are and how the site may be extended in future. The answers to these questions form the basis of a project plan which is the objective of this step.
We usually begin the “design conversation” with some concept artwork to make sure we have captured your brand accurately. From here, we start with important features such as navigation and content flow, then nail down the specific appearance of each page or template. For brochure websites, we require signed-off copy (which we can assist with) before proceeding to the next step.
This is where everything comes together. We convert the approved copy and artwork to HTML and incorporate either one of our existing frameworks or create new code from scratch according to the functional requirements. Once the first build is complete, we publish to a temporary location so you can take a test drive to make sure everything works as expected.
At this point we rigorously test every feature of the site with a particular emphasis on making sure users on different browsers, platforms and devices experience your site as intended. For CMS and catalogue-based sites, this is the stage at which content and/or products are loaded into the database. Once any glitches have been dealt with, we’re ready to “go live”. If required, we’ll take care of new domain registration or updating existing records.
Any coding bugs discovered in the first month after release will be attended to immediately (at no charge). All public facing sites we build are equipped with Google Analytics, so you have access to comprehensive traffic data from day one. We’ll be available at any point to implement upgrades and discuss ways of improving your site.