Richard Consulting plans each site based on your needs, preferences, and goals.
To facilitate the process, we utilize a nine-step approach.
Step One: Are we a good match?
Step Two: The Planning meeting
Step Three: Getting Started
Step Four: Website Hosting
Step Five: Design and Content
Step Six: Final Approval
Step Seven: Development, Coding, and Programming
Step Eight: Marketing
Step Nine: Web Mastering
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Step One: Are we a good match?
Two of the most important things that need to be determined are cost and compatibility.
During our Free Consultation meeting, we begin by learning basic information about your company. Issues such as Web site goals, general information architecture, look and feel are discussed. During this process, you will get to know us better, and we will have an opportunity to understand you better.
We will listen intently to your project goals, and answer any questions you may have regarding our process. We will then prepare a preliminary proposal, which will give you a general idea of cost. If the cost is within your budget, and we both feel good about the working relationship, we will schedule a more formal planning meeting.
Step Two: The Planning meeting
At the discovery meeting, our Web designers will ask you to share more specific information about your immediate and long-term goals, brand positioning, target audiences, current marketing campaigns, primary competitors, and corporate culture. We also ask about your current Web site, if you have one, to find out what's working, what's not, and why you want to change it.
During this stage, we ask a lot of questions so we can learn as much as we can about what you want and need. After this meeting, we study your industry and your competition, so we can differentiate your business and suggest appropriate strategies to meet your particular objectives.
Step Three: Getting Started
After the Planning meeting, we prepare a Site Map for you representing all the information that will appear on the site. We will confirm that our original estimate was correct, or make any required changes. We will setup the production schedule send an invoice for fifty percent of the total project cost. For more expensive projects with longer timelines, alternative payment schedules may be agreed upon.
Step Four: Web Site Hosting
If you don't already have a domain name for your site, we can help you choose an appropriate one, check its availability, and register it for you. If you already have a domain name, we'll discuss where it is currently hosted and offer our hosting services. Generally, clients find the speed and performance of our preferred network, coupled with the price, make it a compelling value. If the site is to remain hosted elsewhere, we'll arrange to gain access to the server so we can begin the building and design process.
Step Five: Design and Content
To begin the design, we first need to agree on a "look and feel." This decision includes ingredients such as color schemes, fonts, use of photos or illustrations, logo placement, and tone/voice for the content. After we determine these basics, we generally present you with two different design concepts. We will discuss the pros and cons of each, and work closely with you in selecting the best concept to achieve your goals. It may be that you choose concept one, but really like an element that was shown in concept two. In that situation, we would perform a design revision, and include the desired element in the chosen concept. Up to three rounds of revisions are typically provided. Each revision will be reviewed and approved by you before advancing to the next step.
Step Six: Final Approval
After all the revisions are completed, a final design concept will be created that shows exactly what the finished site will look like. It is not until this final design concept is approved that we begin the development phase of building your Web site.
Step Seven: Development, Coding, and Programming
During this phase, we start building out the main page and second level page templates.
Step Eight: Marketing
Many companies incorrectly believe that once their site is up, people will just stumble across it and their business will thrive. To make sure that your customers find you, we help you identify the most effective Internet marketing strategies to drive qualified traffic to your web site and determine the most relevant search engine keywords. We can also help you locate potential partner sites that may swap links with you so you can take advantage of each others' customer bases.
For more information on our marketing services, please visit Internet Marketing.
Step Nine: Web Mastering
Business and Customer needs evolve, and so should your internet presence. To keep visitors coming back to your site, the content must stay relevant and current. Most changes can be completed in 24-48 hours.
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