Visual Adventures
This is one of the most crucial aspects of building your site and will happen in one or more brainstorming sessions.
When we meet I will ask you questions like: What colors do you want to use? What mood do you want your site to reflect? How many pages do you want? I may ask you for some example sites that convey the same "look and feel". I will also ask you questions about your business. We will also talk about key words for your site, as they are in integral part of search engine indexing.
It's important the I not only understand the functionality of your site but also the "look and feel". This will help me develop a site that is truly an online extension of your business.
After this meeting I will give you an estimate and contract. Once this is signed and returned with a 50% deposit I can begin work on your site.
You should start thinking about content for your site at this point. I'm happy to help you write copy, but you probably know your business better than me so start putting some thoughts on paper, and remember to keep your key words in mind.
Once I receive your payment and contract, I will design a mock up of your site. A mock up, or "look and feel" is a static design with no interactivity and mock content. Once you receive this tell me what you think. You love it! You hate it! You want to use a different color scheme, different pictures. Now is the time to communicate these things to me. The more we communicate, the less time it takes me to build your site and the less it costs you.
Hey, I'm just being honest! It can be costly to make major changes down the road.
Now I'm ready to start coding your site and test it on the various web browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc..). Different web browsers display web pages differently. Even different versions of the same browser will sometimes display a page differently. It's important to test sites and make code adjustments so that your site will display as close to the same as possible on all of the major web browsers.
I will want to have all your content at this point. I use CSS based coding techniques, plus a few other tricks to make sites that are easy to update, and perform well in search engines. This is currently considered the most preferred way to create a web site.
I'll probably send you links to the site through out this process so you can check it out and give me feedback.
Now it's time to make your site live and start marketing it. Although I build search engine friendly sites, there's much more that can be done to market it. The only way to guarantee search engine place in is a Pay for Placement program provided by the search engines. Search engines change their placement algorithms on a regular basis to provide unique content for their viewers. A page ranked number one today might be further down the list next week. That said, Visual Adventures can optimize your web site so that it will perform well for your business.
Domain Name: This is the name of your web site (www.mysite.com). The domain name is like a sign pointing to where your web site is. All it does is direct traffic to the location of the site. Costs: $5 - $35
Hosting: This is like the office space for your web site. It's basically space rented off of a computer attached to a high speed internet connection. Different web site needs, such as e-commerce (having a shopping cart on your site), may direct where you need to host your web site. Hosting prices vary greatly and typically include email accounts and a control panel to manage your hosting features. A basic hosting plan may cost $5/month while a larger account with e-commerce my cost $40/month. Visual Adventures can provide hosting for you.
Web site Creation: This is the building of your site. Costs can vary greatly depending on your needs.
Marketing: This is promoting your web site once it has been created. The sky is the limit with what you can spend marketing your web site and there are many ways in which to do so.
Web site updates: This can be done by you (the client), or by Visual Adventures at our hourly rate. Updating your content keeps it fresh and is easy to learn.