Step by step
Looking to have us design and developl your web site? Here's the step by step guide:
1. Initial Consultation
Once you contact us and are interested in having us design your website, the first step is to get a basic understanding of who you are and what you want. We prefer to do this face to face, but will happily conduct the initial consultation by phone or e-mail.
This initial process may take several hours over the course of a few days to complete. If we think we are capable of completing a quality project for you, and you think you’d like us to do so…. Then we move to step 2.
2. Estimate range and Contract
It will then take a few days for us to create our estimate range for the project. For an explanation “estimate range”, visit our cost and estimates page. If you accept our estimate range we will then work up a simple contract so we can both be clear about the details of the project. Once we get the contract back and 50% of the middle of the estimate range, we can get to work! All of this should take about 1 week.
3. Research
This is the foundation for everything to come. We will study you. We need to become as knowledgeable as we can about your organization or business. Otherwise the work to follow is throwing darts in the dark….. it’s guesswork! Additionally, you may need to do some research as we’ll need access to your FTP sever. (Unless you host with us, in which case we take care of everything!)
We will also study your competition. We need to understand what sets you apart. We want to make sure your new site is ahead of the industry curve.
4. Pre-production
This is where we lay out the Information Structure and develop a sense for the general Look and Feel of the project. For more on Information structure and Look and Feel, visit our Design philosophy page. From here we will develop a minimum of 2 draft mock-ups of the home page. A mock up is a non-functional picture that represents the general look and feel of the piece, but does not provide extensive details. Once we have approval on a mock up, we move into production. To get here may take us upwards of 2-3 weeks from our initial consultation.
5. Production: phase one
This is where we actually create the working Informational Structure and navigation. There is little to no content at this point, simply a working model of the entire structure and primary navigation. Additionally, by the end of this phase we have activated the working details of your homepage, and will give you the first glimpse of what your actual working web site will look like. We require a sign-off before moving onto Phase two.
6. Production: phase two
This stage is where we painstakingly develop the content, cross-reference pages, add in graphics to headers and secondary pages, and generally complete the overall site. We will be in touch often during this phase as we will need your help getting the content to tell the right story. As we complete pages we will be asking you to be the first set of eyes to catch any errors in spelling, grammar, or mis-information.
7. Production: phase three
This is where we work out any glitches and send it out to a test team. We test across browsers and have a dedicated team that assists us in proofing content and scanning for dead links and 
other site errors. From here we are picking the date to go live!
8. Going live!
Once we decide on a “go live” date, you need to settle your bill. We will provide you with the exact cost within our original estimate range. Then once we settle, we go live! Sometimes this takes a few days to get everything running smootly, but we've gone from initial consultation to world-class web site in about 6 - 8 weeks!
9. Ongoing
There are inevitable unforeseen glitchs and actual user feedback that determines a change or adaptation is in order. Don’t worry! We provide unlimited updates and consultations for the first month. We'll stay close by, and make sure your site evolves and keeps up. We have an on-going maintenence plan to suit you!