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WEBSITE GUIDELINES FOR CLIENTS

What are your services?
What is your background and history?
Who is your target audience?
What sets you apart from the competition?
Is your website ADA-compliant?
What do you want to achieve with this site?
Who owns your Domain Name?

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OUR DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

To get started, we need information from the client in order to start working on a website here are some key things to prepare. 

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  • Discovery. We ask a lot of questions about your company.

  • Proposal. We will give the client an estimate based on the organization of the website, and how many hours we predict the site is going to take also known as the Scope of Work. Small changes may be absorbed, but if there are significant changes to the scope of work, client approval will be needed to proceed.

  • We provide recommended site structure, and present it to the client for approval. We do our due diligence and research the competition and target client prior to design.

  • Then the design is created, and pass it by the client for approval, prior to building out the site pages.

  • Once the content is nearly complete, and the structure and design are approved, we build out the site pages. The client is added as an editor, so they can see the site being developed live! 

  • WIX. We create our sites in WIX. It's browser-based, and they host the site. We used to create sites in Dreamweaver, and WordPress, but we find WIX to be more user/client/designer friendly. 

  • For design services, we are able to bill monthly upon how the agreement is constructed. Once payment is complete, we sign the site over to the owner of the business and stay on as an editor, we provide continuous service and training.

  • For hosting costs, we request the client pay for those upon completion of the design of the site, and prior to launch. There are tiered packages available that depend upon what functionality is needed on the site, it costs less, in the long run, to pay multiple years in advance.

  • We integrate social media pages, so having those addresses available is beneficial. We also set up sharing to social media. It's an image that shows up when someone shares your pages.

  • We do blogs, and those share to social media as well.

  • SEO also known as Search engine optimization is not rocket science voodoo. Keywords used in searches, a title per page and a page description, and using those important keywords in your page content. We also can connect to Google Business.

  • Also, WIX offers CRM, and email campaign templates.....they have lots of bells and whistles in WIX. 

  • When we build out the site we automatically add the SEO to the pages and adjust for mobile, we are also versed in ADA compliance.

  • We will train the business owner or staff in making edits to the site if they would like this. 

  • Our protocol is to sign the site and domain registration over to the owner of the business upon completion. Never let someone else own your company's domain name. 

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KEEPING THE PROCESS GOING SMOOTHLY

Here are some of the sticking points that affect deadlines and smooth operations in our 20 years of creating websites.

  • Domain name. Do you own your own domain?  
    If you don't already have one, we'll help you register one. If you do have one, we'll need the registrar's user/password to change the DNS/Nameserver for you. If some other person registered the domain and now, you don't have access to it. You need to get . We can make a new name and web address, but that's a last resort. 

  • Clients need to provide Text/content in order to tell their stories. We can guide our clients in the development of content. We also edit the content for the web keeping it short and to the point for users who are viewing the site. We can also hire a writer if the client agrees, that cost is separate, and upon client approval.

  • Photography? If you have your own photos, please include the copyright of the photographer. If we purchase stock photography, we relay what the stock house charges prior to purchasing the rights. This is typically at an extra cost.

  • Is there an existing website you are redesigning? Do you know who owns the content on the site? Images, text, and graphics are typically the copyright of its creator, unless the person who created the site was a full-time employee. 

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GETTING STARTED

Behind the design are marketing objectives. Here are some critical questions to ask yourself. 

  • Who is your target audience? Who is the secondary audience? 

  • How are you planning to capture potential clients who visit your site? Email gathering and campaigns? Forms?

  • What is the primary purpose of the new site? Selling products or services? Information?

  • What is the overall message you are trying to convey to your target audience? (For example, cost-effective, secure, reliable, and efficient.)

  • ​What does the target audience think and feel about the company and the current website?

  • What do we want them to think and feel?

  • How is your company or your web presence different (better) from your competition?

  • How will you convey the overall message? (For example, effective messaging through copy, the directed path towards goal, specific offer on the home page.)

  • How will this new website help achieve this goal?

  • What is a typical task the user might perform on the new site? For example, register, log on, search for information, buy a specific product, send their email address, and call for more details.

  • Can you provide a short list of sites that impress you? What is it about that site that is appealing?

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