Design Process: Step by Step

I've broken down the website design process we follow, into steps to make the experience easier to understand and less daunting.

----------------------------------- PLANNING -----------------------------------------

Look at your competition & think about your customers . Note what pages your competition has and doesn't have. Also notice what features their websites contain (ie: gallery, email form, blog etc). Think about your customers and what the purpose of your website is - what are you trying to get humans do to once they arrive at your home page?

Develop an outline of your website. An outline shows your main pages as well as subordinate pages that help determine possible navigation strategies. An outline will also help determine the total number of pages needed.

Here's an example of an outline for a 6 page website:

Collect examples of websites whose appearance you like. These can be either companies from your industry or otherwise. Try to get an idea of what kind of color scheme you prefer, what kind of navigation you like (across the top or down the left hand side), and what kind of general layout you prefer.

----------------------------------- PREPARATION ----------------------------------------

Send me information gathered from the previous steps (website outline, list of websites you like and why).

Pre-Design Consultation. Once you have sent me your website outline, we'll schedule a consultation visit to your business or even just a telephone call and review all of the information you've sent in detail. I'll typically give you a week of forewarning that your time is coming.

Quotation and Deposits. We will review all the information received and based on these initial requirement I will prepare a quotation for the design and let you know if any deposits will be required.  A typical website design deposit ranges from £75 - £100, the covers all outlays required for purchasing domain names and hosting account services on your behalf.  If you already have these then no deposit will normally be taken.

----------------------------------- DESIGN -------------------------------------------

I develop a mock-up. I first develop a mock-up, of what your new website might look like, based on the information you've sent and preferences you've expressed during our conversations/correspondence. The mock-up will be uploaded to our demo hosting service so you can view it. The mock-up is simply a template, that is easily changed, but nothing's clickable yet.

You send me feedback on the mock-up. Tell me what you want changed, and I'll change it. It usually takes a couple mock-up revisions to get a final mock-up that clients find acceptable, so don't be shy about giving feedback. It's important you get a website that looks and feels like you want it to.

You approve the final mock-up. After several rounds of iteration, we'll reach a point where you say "it's good" and approve the mock-up. This version will become the basis for your website template. We'll pick fonts for your content, and your graphics.

Page creation. Using the template I create all the pages on your new website. You can now click around your website, but there's nothing to read because there's no content.

Content creation. Now that the pages are made, we need to add content to them. Content means things like text and images. Sometimes client have created their content ahead of time (when they made their outlines), and sometimes they create it on-the-fly. I typically talk to clients about "keywords" before they start to write their content. As I receive content, I add it to the pages.

----------------------------------- FINALIZE -------------------------------------------

Polish, Polish, Polish. In this phase we both go over and over the website, making small adjustments to structure or content, until you say we're done.

Launch. Once you say we're done, I do my final pre-launch work and then officially announce your website's debut to the search engines. I'll also send you an email with a list of tips (and homework) for new website owners.

----------------------------------- MAINTAIN -----------------------------------------

Maintenance. Now that your website is completed, it enters the maintenance phase. (Click here to read about website maintenance services). During the first month after launching your website I will happily make minor changes FREE of charge, so simply email me with details of your desired changes.