process
Building a website is a lot like building a house. You need a plan or blueprint, you need materials, you need to frame it and then you need to finish it. Build a house without a blueprint? Good luck.
Websites, like houses and other projects, follow the rule of thirds. It takes one-third of the time to define and design the project. One-third to develop it. And one-third to deploy it. And, just like a house, all of this has to happen before you can really "move-in," which is often when the real work begins. Here's a little more about each phase:
Define and Design
This is by far the most important part of the process and, strangely enough, the one many people want to skip. Why can't we just "buy a design and start building the sucker out? I know exactly what I want." Well, it's like telling the general contractor "don't worry about the architect or the blueprint, I know what I want." If a project is well defined and designed it is going to cost less in the long run and meet the goals set forth in the beginning. Without this work, failure is a possibility. A project specification is the end result of a good define and design phase. At a minimum this would consist of a blueprint, a Photoshop document showing the site's home page and key second level pages--called a "deck." Larger undertakings will require the spec to do much more, such as articulate the vision for the site and its business goals, provide a site map, plan for the technologies on the back-end, and describe the functionality of the end product.
Develop
Once we've defined and designed the project, that's when the real technical work begins. The deck is "sliced" and built-out into a living, breathing website. Programmers add the required functionality on the back-end. Coders make it look right on the front. This is usually the most boring phase for the client. To take our house analogy, this is where the house is framed and all of the systems from plumbing to electrical are put in place.
Deploy
The final third consists of finishing the product (putting in final content and photographs), making sure everything is up to snuff (quality control) across all of the various browsers, and finally flipping the switch.
Build it and they will come?
Congratulations you have a beautiful website. It's sleek, elegant, high-performing and ready to go to work. Unfortunately the web ain't the field of dreams. Now the real work begins. Anyone can build a website, but far too often companies build a site with no plan for how to get found. Our comprehensive suite of services for search, email marketing and analysis will help your new site get found.