If you’ve ever thought about starting or developing a new website project you’ll know that sooner rather than later you realise that it’s more hard work than you had anticipated. The initial thoughts of excitement and motivation give way to distraction and despair – so how do you keep a web project on track, and get your new site online?
Most web project problems that we see can be traced back to a lack of planning from the outset. Not knowing what the end objectives are, how you plan to keep the website up to date, or where the content is going to come from are some of the most recurring themes. Sometimes it’s just hard to find the time to collate content – but don’t despair – there are ways of making the process much easier!
With each web project we work on, we work through four steps to ensure as smooth a project as possible.
Step 1 – Delve:
Researching a project from the outset might not seem as fun as getting stuck in to the design, but it’s a critical part of understanding the objectives for a site. Some of the questions we work through include “Who is this website for?”, “What do you want it to acheive, what are the key functions you need it to perform? We’ll also take time to look at any previous websites you may have had – did they work well, if not, why not?
Step 2 – Develop:
Using some of the information gleamed during the research process, we can then start to draw up an accurate sitemap of what you would like your new site to look like. The develop stage also helps to identify some of the side projects that you might need to develop (or curtail) alongside your new website. How do you plan to get people to see your new website – do you have your social media working well – or are you diluting your resources across too many channels? This is also a key stage in making sure that your content has been collated and is ready for the site build.
Step 3 – Design:
Once you have your content collated we’ll begin to pull it all together in your site design. We work almost exclusively in WordPress, as the world’s leading content management system it has near limitless opportunities to build a site that can meet the needs of even the most demanding organisations. We work with two key principles in the design – it should look good, and work well. Who wants one and not the other?
Step 4 – Deploy:
Deploying your site is about more than just getting it online. We’ll work to make sure it looks good and works well across a range of devices, including mobile. We’ll also advise you on how to work with geting your site found by the world’s leading search engines and ensuring that you have a plan to monitor your site on an ongoing basis.
Are you ready to initiate or ressurect your website project? Get in touch if you would like some help, we’d be glad to help.
