These are the steps I take to help my clients expand their business online-
Introductions
Start by downloading our Intro Packet – within, you’ll learn about us, how we work, our process/policies, etc. If you’re OK with all of that, the next step is to fill our a brief questionnaire so we can get to know a little more about you and your business.
We’ll the schedule a discovery call where we’ll discuss your project and next steps.
If we both feel comfortable working together, we’ll send you a proposal & contract, which you can sign digitally, send the initial deposit for the project, and we’ll get you scheduled into our calendar. 🙂
Phase 1 – Discovery & Planning
Here’s where we dive deep into your business. We’ll review your vision and goals for your business to see how your website can be an asset and relay that information to your prospects and customers.
We’ll do a website audit to your existing website to review where there are gaps or misalignment with your current message and goals. We’ll also review technical and usability aspects of the site to know where we need to make changes for the new website.
Phase 2 – Content
The next step is to get all the content necessary for the website curated so it will be ready for the design/development stages. This includes text and images you’d like to use for the site.
We’ll create a content plan so your website portrays the right messaging for your business. We’ll review existing content and outline any new content or changes to existing content.
Once the outline is created, we’ll make up an interactive sitemap for testing.
Very important: All content must be delivered to us before the site design/development begins.
If you need assistance with this in order to best express your marketing message to your clients/customers, please discuss it with us and arrangements can be made for us to help you with this very crucial step.
Any content that you send to us is read and reviewed, if needed we  provide suggestions, guidance and feedback for enhancing the experience for your readers and also for Search Engine strategizing. We will also discuss Metatag keywords, descriptions and page titles at this time as well. This basic search engine optimization is included in your package at no additional charge to you.
Phase 3 – Redesign
Now comes the fun part – designing the layout for the new site.
If any new branding images are requested, they will be done during this stage. We’ll create a site mock-up for your review with two revisions included, if necessary. Approval for this stage is necessary before we start the development phase.
We’ll include a design style guide for our use developing the theme and you’ll get a copy for your files for any offline printing needs.
Phase 4 – Development/Coding
Upon your approval of the design, the development and production of the site will proceed. We’ll insert the content into the site pages. integrate any third-party site/social media functionality, and then the site will be uploaded to our test server for your review.
We’ll do initial testing and formatting for mobile responsiveness.
We will do some basic search engine optimizing for key pages so your site will be found in the search engines.
Once that is done, we’ll send you the link for you to test and review on your end. Once you give your “Stamp of Approval”, it will be time for launching!
Phase 5 – Test/Launch
Prior to it being viewable to your visitors, it will be re-tested for compatibility on the major, current browsers (Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Safari). We also double check mobile responsiveness.
Once all testing is complete, we’ll transfer the site to your hosting server. We do one more round of testing on the live environment before officially “turning on” the website to live visitors.
Once we know there aren’t any major bugs, we’re ready to go live and you can announce your new site to the masses!
Phase 6 – Measure/Maintain
Where as most firms will pass the reins to their client’s as soon as the site is launched, we continue to make sure that your site is working for you. When everything has gone live for the public to view, the work is not done.
We’ll want to create a plan for tracking the success of your website – traffic, signups, sales, customer inquires, etc.
We’ll also want to review your plans for additional content and social media promotions.
As part of our 30 day free support period, we make sure everything’s running smoothly. We’ll happily fix anything that isn’t working properly on your website and is considered a bug (this does not include changes to content, design or feature changes).
Beyond that 30 days, we recommend our Peace of Mind WordPress Care Plans to keep your site updated, secure, and help with any content modifications you may need done.
Our goal is total satisfaction for our clients. We’re always an email/call away!
