Client preparation - information gathering

There are a few initial questions that you must ask yourself and/or colleagues before embarking on having a web site created. These questions will form the basis of the design brief and make it clear to all concerned where you are headed.

Questions that you must ask:

• what are the objectives/goals/purpose of your site
• what do you hope to achieve
• is it a marketing tool
• who is your target audience
• can you use your current school/business logo/s
• do they need to be updated
• are there any other web sites you like the look of
• colour schemes
• navigation system
• images
• text
• make a list of the type of pages and number for your web site
• map out how you think it should be structured
• create and develop the content for each page - in MS WORD or Lotus Word Pro
• What contact details do you wish to have
• address
• email
• phone
• fax
• individual employees?
• sales reps
• Collect images (photos, brochures, logos etc) and any other material that may have to be scanned
• do you need links to other sites

Click for a printable copy of this page only

Client information organisation

Before calling Skyline Creations - is the domain name that you would like to have available.

• You can find out from our domain name and hosting service.
• Just enter the domain name you would like in the box below
• 
  

  Domain: .com .net .biz .org .info .asia .us .name .bz .cc .eu

 

Apply for the basic package. Just type in the domain name you wish to have.
Instant feedback will give its availability.

Collect all your current advertising material and brochures

Type up the information you collected for Action 1

You have now collected and prepared all the information to hand over to a design consultant.

Consultation with Skyline Creations

Consultation between you and Skyline Creations will establish an understanding about your business and your web design objectives. We need to do this to gain some insight into your image and how you would like to public to see you.

Your information from Action 1 is discussed in depth to clear up any points of concern. This allows both parties to have a clear understanding of the procedure and the information to be published.

This is your opportunity to ask questions about any concerns that you may have at this stage regarding

• costs
• time
• procedures
• contact details
• last minute changes
• scanning
• colours

Site development

We will now design the skeleton of your web site/handbook. That is, we will create all pages in a structure that we have understood to be how you would like it. The skeleton site will be uploaded to our web site and we will give you a user name and password to allow you access. At your leisure you can make a critical analysis of the structure and suggest any changes that you would like to see done.

At this stage the navigation buttons will be developed and the page headers created from your graphics or company/school logos. A few examples of web layouts are available here. These are not copyrighted to anyone and can be used if you so wish. More will be put on-line as time permits.

On upload the entire site will be fully operational except for the content. This is the best time to make changes, although changes may be possible after the content has be added if you think something is out of place. You will need to go over the site page by page to ensure they are all in the right place and sequence.

We will scan your graphics and make them ready for the internet - they will download quickly.

The navigation structure will enable clients to find the information they require quickly and efficiently.

Client Data

During this stage, all your content - text, graphics, files etc - are added and continually uploaded to our web site. This not only provides you with constant access, but allows you to view the site as it develops and to also view it as others will see it - on a browser connected to the web.

If you are unhappy with the speed of the download we will try to remedy the problem by re-optimising the graphics as these are the main problem with slow downloads.

At the end of this section your web site/handbook is basically finished but is still on our server.

As with the previous Action, you must go through all the pages and check every link for validity. Have a colleague or employee who has no connection to the development process go through the site. This is the best way to pick out the problems. Because we, and you, have been closely associated with the site from inception, some of the minor problems that may be experienced by a new client will not be noticed by us. Correction at this stage is simple - not so after it has been installed on your server - it could become costly to fix.

Testing and Change

The site is now tested to ensure all links are working perfectly

Any downloadable files actually download correctly

There are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors.

You also test the site to ensure the content is correct and graphics are placed correctly.

All final changes are to be made at this stage before going on-line

Going On-Line

When you are completely satisfied the last thing to do is upload the site to your Internet provider. We can show you how to do this or we can do it for you. You will need to give us access to your ‘space’ in order for us to upload the site.

The site is submitted to all major search engines.

If you are having a handbook produced, we will burn it onto CDs for you and create the labels. This will of course cost extra.

Maintenance

Now that you have your site on-line or your handbook complete you need to keep it up to date and dynamic. No one likes to go to a site only to see that the last time it was up dated was 2 years ago - does the business still exists is one question that comes to mind.

We offer a low cost maintenance and updating service where we will update your site whenever you feel it needs to be done. Small changes in formatting or even navigation. It takes a few weeks to really get the feel of the site and many questions may come up regarding certain aspects that could possibly need changing.

You may ring for advice at any time

Changes can be emailed to us.

Cost for all this is $55 per hour.