Purchasing a new website is a bit of a mystery. Even after you’ve chosen a Web Developer and defined your project, you may not know how your website is being built. Every company and every project is unique in some ways and so processes vary, not only by developer and agency, but also from project to project. Yet some steps remain constant. Wondering how we build websites? Wonder no longer. Here’s our creative process, step by step:
1. Evaluate
Every piece of content we create is strategically planned. We at Rystedt Creative believe that effective content is purposeful content. We want you to meet (or exceed) your online goals.
So, before we begin developing a website we need to know both where your business is today and where you want your business to be tomorrow.
The first step of any web development project is evaluation. We’ll interview you and your company, research your market, and deeply evaluate your current online presence.
Only then can we aim to effectively grow your online presence and hope to exceed your goals.
2. Create a Strategic Web Development Proposal
We’ve identified six elements of an outstanding website including:
- Maintenance,
- Accessible contact info,
- Local optimization,
- Mobile optimization,
- Original images, and
- Value added content.
Additionally, in 2019, every website that aims to rank higher in search results must:
- Regularly publish value added content,
- Use fast, secure, and optimized technology, and
- Obtain backlinks from trusted sites.
We compare your current online presence and goals with current web standards and best practices to help us develop a strategic web development proposal.
The research and evaluation of your business is essential to making this step a success. Despite the common factors we’ve identified above, each company, market, and site presents unique goals and challenges that require a fresh approach.
Our proposals are designed to be effective – even if someone else does the rest of the work.
3. Determine Site Atmosphere
Every website should have a brand atmosphere or style guide including logos, colors, and typography.
Companies that already have an established style guide help us accelerate their web development project but we’re also here to assist those just starting out.
Our graphic art packages provide our clients with everything they need to present a consistent image on and off the web.
Once we have your company style guide in hand (or create it from scratch) we’re ready to begin designing the site itself!
4. Customize or Develop Theme
Your company is uniquely great. Your website should be too.
Depending on your budget and goals we’ll either customize a professional website theme or design a website theme from scratch.
Every site we launch uniquely fits that company’s atmosphere.
5. Install and Configure Software
Your website functions more like an app than a billboard. Websites aren’t [merely] graphic design projects – they’re software projects.
We set up and maintain everything from your Linux powered server and PHP version to your WordPress install and plugins.
Software is at the heart of your website’s functionality and we need to make sure we get it right.
Some companies have unique requirements like custom and automated e-commerce database features. This is when all of that custom development gets implemented and tested.
When shopping for a website you should look for "more than what you see is what you get".
6. Create Site Content
One of the pillars of an often visited website is regularly published value added content.
This includes landing pages, articles, and product descriptions.
Unless your company already has that content, we’ll point our professional copywriters in your direction and make the magic happen. By "magic" we mean search engine optimized written content with a marketing flow.
A website without content is just a yellow pages listing – and no one needs to click beyond the Google snippet for that.
7. Test and Approve
The websites we develop belong to our clients – not us.
Want some colors changed, content rephrased, or maybe your menu to slide out instead of drop down? We’ve got you covered. We value your role in the design and development process and package edits into our project pricing.
Once you approve the site it’s ready to go!
8. Launch
Finally launch days arrives. Whether we’re launching your first site or re-launching an old one, we’ll handle the details for you.
Our website launches usually involve little to no downtime so your business can keep making sales and generating leads even as the new website propagates across the Internet.
9. Support and Grow
We realize that you didn’t launch your business to run your websites. So, we’ll stay by your side to support and grow your site with your business.
Our favorite Maintenance and Support projects are the ones where our clients let us be proactive, strategically plan, and help them grow their online presence over time.
Here’s to your new website and growing business! ?
Joshua & Gabrielle Rystedt
