Discover
The process begins with a conversation. We want to listen to you. What is your business about? Where are you now in your web presence, and where do you want to be? What are the ideas you have for representing your company or organization? When we understand you and what you are looking for, then we'll discuss issues and possibilities.
This always begins with a telephone conversation. Sometimes we have a face-to-face meeting, particularly if client needs are unique. Large sites may require meeting with several constituents in your organization.
Proposal
We provide a written proposal that outlines what we are agreeing to provide and what you will agree to pay. The proposal usually includes a firm price for the development. The proposal will include any other services you need and their price (if we are providing them). If relevant to your needs, the proposal will address security, privacy, social media, marketing concerns, and reputation management.
Plan
We plan the development of your site. For large sites this may require in-person meetings, acquisition of third-party APIs, or the incorporation of outside vendors. For custom built applications, we may ask you to participate in the testing of any dynamic functions of the site. If your site will be collecting online payments, we will coordinate with you and your payment processor. We often help clients identify third parties for payment processors and other hosted services.
Design and Develop
We design the site visuals (front end) and any code development and interaction (backend). On large projects, you may participate in testing any site functionality - early on this is separate from the development of the 'look' of your site. For small projects, we may produce a nearly finished site for you to review. Depending on the plan, we may consult with you on every step of the process from color and font selection to stock photography and artwork creation.
Review and Revise
Clients will be satisfied. After each draft of the site, we consider it standard practice to collect all your comments and suggestions to improve the design and functionality. Often the changes are minor - but if we totally miss the mark with your design, we will revise until you are satisfied.
Launch
When the client is satisfied, we launch the site. We will help you with any technical changes in your domain registration to get your site visible on the web. This is a quick process if this is your first site. We will do any required installations on a public web server to bring your site to the world.
Maintain
After your site launches, your friends look at it, and someone may notice you've put a wrong price or description somewhere. Don't worry, we address all of the mistakes in the content for 30 days without charge. We will fix any coding errors for up to one year.
Some websites will require regular maintenance. For example, all WordPress sites require regular updates to the WordPress code and plugins. Backups of data is highly recommended before updating the code. We build this maintenance into the costs of our WordPress hosting plans. If your site requires maintenance, that will be indicated in the proposal.
