6. Final Approval and Going Live
Considerations
To make things easier for both you, as a potential client and me, your potential webmaster, make a list of what you want your website to do. Do you want to sell products from it? Is it a purely informational website? Or are you trying to do something else? Once you have a good idea of what you want your website to do, do some online exploring. Google terms that are relevant to what you want from your website and check out the results. Make a list of the parts of the websites you like and don't like.
This is also the time to gather all materials relevant to your website. If you have an old website and are looking for a redo, the code will be very helpful. If not, logos, ideas for logos (I create logos as well, so please ask if you need a new logo), copy about your website, and images will all be very helpful.
By doing some preliminary legwork, not only will you have a better idea of what you want from your website, but I will be able to translate these ideas more clearly and effectively online.
First Steps
After contacting me with your interest in updating or creating your website, we will discuss the ideas you have and go through the materials you have gathered. If you are local and with a brick and mortar business and are looking for a website, we will meet at your business so I can get a sense of your style.
With your help, we will come up with your demographics and start to sketch out ideas for the website together.
Once we come to a consensus on the direction of the website, I will type up a rough estimate of the time that it will take to complete the project including a deadline for the completion of the first round of mockups which will serve as a preliminary contract.
I charge by the hour for any services that I provide beyond the initial consultation and the first round of mockups.
Initial Mockups
It usually takes about a week to two weeks, depending on the scope and complexity of the website, for me to create a mockup for your website based on the initial ideas we have come up with.
Once I have finished the initial mockups, I will email them to you and let you critique them. The idea here is to clarify your website.
Moving Forward
Moving forward, we will set a time to sit down for a second review to determine whether you are happy with my work and practices.
If major changes are to be made to the design, you may feel that another mockup and/or navigational diagram is necessary. If so, we will set a deadline and schedule another consultation.
We will go over the mockups and make sure everything is ready to go. You will sign off on these as final mockups. Past this point, if you decide to make any major changes to the design, you will agree to pay for all work done on the design that you initialed and the additional expenses of the redesign.
At this time, we will discuss costs and fees and terms of usage as well as establish a schedule for the completion of the site. This includes dissecting your project into various phases and setting deadlines for each phase. These phases include, but are not limited to, design and construction of templates, creation of images (photography or illustration as required), writing of copy, editing of copy, proofing and approval of pages and, finally, posting of pages to the client’s site.
Out of this I will draft a final contract specific to your project. This contract will detail everything that we have discussed to date including who will provide what materials, payment schedules, terms of usage, deadlines and approvals, final proofing, the posting of pages to the client’s site and maintenance. Additional contracts will be made for any other materials needed including print materials (brochures, ads, business cards), banners for websites, pay per click work and any photography work.
Website Construction
Once the contract has been signed, I will start on the construction of your website. I have a testing site which I will be posting finished pieces to at milestones such as creation of home page and addition of other finished pages. I will contact you at each major milestone and have you proof each step to ensure the website is exactly what you want.
Final Approval and Going Live
Once all the pages have been created and all copy has been added, I will ask you to make one last runthrough and give the final approval. At that point, I will post your website to your URL. I provide 6 months of maintnence free to make sure that any issues missed are fixed and that you are happy with your new website.