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What We Do
Some of our clients approach us knowing what they want: a web page. Or
maybe three web pages, or ten or trying to put together an entire site designed around a
theme. We can produce graphics and lay out pages for you. If your existing site
needs some illustrations, we can adapt your images or produce new ones. Please read this
even if you think you know you just want some pages: you may change your mind.
Like any important project, building a web site starts with design.
Working with the client, we must learn the requirements that the site is to meet, and the
constraints (budget, availability of client personnel, deadlines, and so on) we must
operate within. We look over the material the client already owns (brochures, printed ads,
printed reference material and so on) and discuss how the client feels that these
materials are not meeting the current need. We want to know why the client wants a web
site and what the client wants from the web site. Only the client can set the objectives
for the site, objectives against which we will measure our performance. Below you will see
a few examples from our files:.
A small town wants to put information on the web. Our first question: is
this for your taxpayers to be informed about what's going on at Town Hall, or for industry
people who might want to relocate, or for tourists, or all three? Expect us to ask you
questions like this during the design process if you haven't asked them of yourself yet.
A retail store wants to put a catalogue online. One of our first
questions is "why"?. Do they just want to advertise the catalogue? Do they want
a wider distribution area? Do they want consumers to order online with credit cards? We
have developed a variety of such sites and can help you choose which you want.
In the design phase we work with the client to decide on issues like:
the best place to host the site.
roughly how many pages will make up the site: 10, 100, or even more.
the general appearance and theme for the site.
how much programming and interactivity the
site needs, and how often it will require updating.
whether the images and copy available are suitable for use on the Web .
how the effort involved in graphic design, copy writing, HTML coding,
and programming will be split between us and the client.
At this point we can produce an estimate for the cost of the site,
although often several draft estimates are produced earlier as part of the decision
process. Even if the client chooses to bring all the graphic design, copy writing, and
HTML coding in-house, and to have no programming, we still have a vital role to play as
consultants, giving advice and helping to move the project smoothly. Other clients will
choose a turnkey solution, having us produce the entire site and hand it
over for maintenance when it is complete. Our experience running commercial web sites is
invaluable here.
If we are producing pages, we keep in touch with the client throughout the
building process. Too often we have seen solutions that meet the specifications precisely
but do not meet the client's requirements. This is a perennial problem in the programming
world and it recurs in web page development. Keeping the client involved prevents nasty
surprises close to deadline.
As the site nears completion, it's time to make sure readers find it. Here
we encourage four approaches:
These approaches may be implemented by us or by the client. They can't be
skipped: the most beautiful, exciting, understandable and compelling web site in the world
cannot meet its requirements if no one reads it.
A web site is never really finished, and regular maintenance is vital,
especially if repeat visits are part of the objectives for the site. If the workload gets
beyond what the client can handle, we can step in and do the updates, then recommend
changes to the site to reduce that maintenance effort to a level that the client can deal
with. We can also provide training in HTML coding and Web
programming. As time passes, a site that was meeting a client's requirements may no longer
do so. Perhaps the style looks dated, or the pages are too static and need some
interactive elements, or the early success of the site has freed resources to expand the
client's Internet presence even further. We are happy to provide advice and consulting to
a client in this situation, whether we are already involved in the site or not.
Another aspect of maintenance is understanding what is happening on your
site. For some clients, we run a monthly or weekly analysis showing how many people are
visiting, what parts of the site are being used, and where visitors come from. We can also
check all the external links on your site to ensure none are broken as a result of others
changing their sites.
"I don't want an off the shelf web site. I want it to stand out; not just be one
of the rest."
- one of our clients
"By using components and a little more time you can have
speed of development and not be one of the crowd."
- Brian Gregory's answer to client
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Examples of our Work
Marricks Landing
ASP/Interdev, VB Script / JavaScript
HTML, JavaScript,
DHTML, CSS, XLS, XML, running stats, run site
analyst, data entry, browser compatibility
Graphics,
Xara, Flash, Illustrator, Paint Shop Pro,
design and esthetics, scanning
Unix, Basics, Admin, Linux install / specifics,
industry familiarity
Internet, Using search engines, getting into search engines,
IE/Netscape
Animated graphics for
The
Canoe Camper: The steps to getting the stroke
right.
Graphics and web design
Soroptimist
Bowes & Cocks
JohnSimsConcrete
Animated graphics for a legal case.
See more on site building and graphic design on our
portfolio.
Try the interactive
FAQ!
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