The Kind of Short Client Guide to Building and Launching a Website

We are proud to announce that we launched three sites in the last three weeks: www.RigidLifelines.com, www.MetaSource.com and www.CaronTexas.org. While all three were challenging projects in their own right, each one  was made easier because of fluid communication and thorough interaction with the client.

We’ve said it before... it takes a village to launch a website. We constantly define our relationships with our clients as “partnerships”. While it is crucial that we hit our deliverable dates, it is just as important that you as the client understand your duties and deliverables as well. That said... we felt it would be helpful to outline the several deliverables we generally require from you as we prepare to launch your website.

Kick Off – The Basics

Before we lift a finger... or scribble a note... or set up any meetings... there is a laundry list of deliverables we require from you to ensure that all technical and creative decisions are appropriate. We generally start by gathering domain information, platform and hosting requirements. Do you need to host your site? Why? Is there a specific CMS platform you’re considering? Again… why?

Then we determine branding guidelines. Are you happy with your brand? Be honest. Keep in mind, unless we are expressly recreating or tweaking your brand (this would be defined up front), your website is a critical “extension” of your brand... not a “rebrand”. We use existing elements of your current campaign, or possibly a style guide to drive design and many of the creative decisions.

Discovery Process and Creative Brief

We start every project with a thorough discovery process which results in a creative brief. When it comes to understanding your business, challenges, goals and objectives, like your yearly checkup with your doctor, it is critical that you tell us as much as possible... or we may miss that mole on your back.

First, we require a list of competitors. This should go without saying... and yes, you have competitors. It is important to look at this in two ways: 1) direct competition and 2) like-minded businesses whose marketing and business objectives (particularly online) you like and appreciate.

Then we interview you, your employees and your customers. Our User Experience research is probably the most intense and telling portion of our discovery process. While we love hearing all the nice things about your company, we’re more interested in the folks who have had challenges with your website, service and / or product.

Who’s the other guy? Are you planning on involving an outside party... maybe an SEO firm... maybe a POS vendor... maybe your social media advisor? We need to know that... particularly for any and all tech related items. We build our technical solutions around our marketing plan and business requirements... not the other way around. So it’s important that we define all potential components of the plan up front... even if it’s just an inkling of an idea.

Site Architecture, Wireframe, Functional Definitions and Design

First, it’s important that you understand what an Information Architecture and Wireframe are. Often the most overlooked... and yet most important part of a project, the Information Architecture is literally a site map for your project. It defines primary and secondary navigation and sectional interdependencies. Then there is the Wireframe... which is essentially like the blueprints for a house. It defines information hierarchy and placement. What comes first? That super-cool featured product rotator... or three big blog posts?

Functional Requirements define how your site is going to work. End of story. While every site we build allows for scalable design and functional opportunities, our Functional Requirements documentation outlines specifically how your site will function... from the pulldowns off the main nav to that accordion thing on your single page checkout process.

We make it pretty. Often the most subjective part of our projects, the design of your site is a functional result of the creative brief and the elements outlined in the IA, Wireframe and Functional Requirement process. Often times the “emotional response” a client has to a design can hinder the objective feedback we require to effectively move through the process. Bottom line, please be specific about what you like or do not like and never tell us “I’ll know it when I see it”. Please identify your specific feelings about color, brand consistency and imagery. Also, make sure you consider the primary goals of the site before commenting. For example: if you’re selling products, it’s probably a good idea that your giant logo not distract from your featured products. And... if you want people to sign up for your newsletter... it’s probably not a good idea to bury it on the page.

The Build, the Launch and the Follow Through

Now we need to turn this beast into a functioning website. Once HTML / CSS is built and the CMS integration is complete, we’ll run through quality assurance (QA) procedures to make sure all functionality defined in the Functional Requirements documentation is in place and working across all major browsers. Depending on our agreement, the type of build and platform we’re developing on, your involvement here can be minimal or extensive, though we generally require the following:

• All the content. Sometimes we create content... sometimes we edit and direct content... and sometimes you’ll take the bull by the horns and take care of it yourself or use a third party to handle it. Regardless of the direction, ALL essential content needs to be complete, edited and in place before we can launch.
• All the quality. While we QA all projects thoroughly, it’s your website... so it’s important that you take some time looking through it to make sure we didn’t miss anything.
• All the feedback. Okay... the site launched and you’re super-psyched. We’d love to hear about it. More importantly though, we’d love to hear about what’s maybe not so perfect. We’re constantly improving our process and products... and expanding our service offering... and a site launch really is only the beginning of the process. While we finish every project with a “recap” and ideas for next steps, we’re always interested in your ideas for improvement.