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Steps to Start Up a New Site
Start the Discussion
- Through email or a face-to-face meeting, we discuss:
- What content you wish to share with your visitors
- What content and graphics are currently available in what form
- How many pages to create for this content
- What page layout suits the type of content and number of pages
- What navigation plan will best lead visitors through your site
Develop a Plan
- A site development plan with cost and time estimates will be provided to you for review
- If needed, further discussion and plan revisions will be made until a final plan is agreed upon
Accept the Plan
- Return a signed agreement with a retainer check for 25% of the estimated total cost
- Submit proposed content and any current marketing and promotional material if available
- Provide photos, logos, and/or artwork if available
Begin Site Development
- Mock up the initial page layout
for a home page and content pages
- Obtain FTP information to the web server for an existing site or arrange domain name and web space provider for a new site
- Load sample page(s) to the test server for client review
- Tweak the initial design based on client input
Finalize Design
- Provide a second phase check for 25% of the estimated total cost to indicate design acceptance
- Provide search engine keywords
- Provide additional text and artwork and/or photos (Providing content in electronic format such as Word documents, text files, or Excel will reduce the cost of page development.)
Produce Web Content Pages
- Create Dreamweaver template(s) for the approved design
- Build and test pages using Dreamweaver templates and client-provided content
- Load pages to the test site for client review
Finalize Site
- Client reviews all site pages
and provides modifications
- Make final revisions to all site pages and load to test site for final review.
- Provide a third phase check for 25% of the estimated total cost to indicate final site acceptance
Go Live
- Load and test finalized web site to production web site
- Provide a final payment for 25% of the estimated total cost plus any additional charges incurred for unplanned additions or revisions
- Provide copy of all files to the client
- Train client to access files if maintenance to be done by client
Suggestions: The cost and the release schedule for your site is based on one thing: time. To save money and expedite the release, try the following before the above steps begin:
- Look at some of your favorite small business web sites and pick out features you want on your site.
- Search for other sites doing the same or similar business and determine what features they have that you should include on your site.
- Get all your photos, logos, graphics and images together. Electronic format is preferred although it is possible to scan in graphics. Be aware that you cannot use other sites' artwork without their express permission. There may also be restrictions on artwork you use now; find out who 'owns' the artwork.
- Site work cannot begin until your logo is available. Design is generally based on a client logo or letterhead. If you don't have one, you should work with a graphic artist. Alternately, a photo bar can be used if you have a series of usable photos related to your business.
- Content should be well-written and recorded in either Word, a text file, or Excel.
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