The Smart Build Web Design Process consists of 5 steps:

  1. Information Gathering
  2. Planning
  3. Design & Development
  4. Testing & Delivery
  5. Maintenance

Step 1: Information Gathering

The first step we will take in designing your site is gathering information. There are many things to think about when considering the look and feel of your site. The first is the most important, as it involves having a solid understanding of your company. What your business goals and dreams are as well as how the web can help you achieve those goals.

Things we take into consideration are:

  • Site Purpose - What is the purpose of your site? Do you want to provide information, promote a service, sell a product?
  • Goals for Site - What do you hope to accomplish by building this web site?
  • Target Audience -  Is there a specific group of people that will help you reach your goals? Picture the ideal person you want to visit your web site. Consider their age, sex or interests. This will later help determine the best design style for your site.
  • Site Content - What kind of content is your target audience going to be looking for? Are they looking for specific information? or a Product or Service?

Step 2: Planning

Now that we have all the information together we need for the site the next step is to start planning the site. The SiteMap is a list of all the main topics for the site as well as sub-topics. This process being done properly will ensure that the site is easy to navigate and user friendly.

Step 3: Design & Development

Using the information gathered up to this point, it’s time to determine the look and feel of your site. Target audience is one of the key factors taken into consideration during this process. For example a site for children would be much different than a site built for a larger corporation. As part of the design phase, it is also important to incorporate elements such as the company logo and colors to help strengthen the identity of your company on the web site.

During this process you will be able to check on the site so you can decide whether you like the route the site is going or if you would like to make some changes. This gives you the opportunity to express your likes and dislikes on the site design.

Step 4: Testing & Delivery

At this point we will test things such as the complete functionality of forms or other scripts, as well last testing for last minute compatibility issues (viewing differences between different web browsers), ensuring that your web site is optimized to be viewed properly in the most recent browser versions. Once all testing has been completed and the final okay has been given by the customer the site is delivered.

Step 5: Maintenance

We offer a few different options for our customers when it comes to site maintenance. If you are going to be making a fair amount of changes to the site we can offer you a monthly maintenance package to make changes to the site when needed. If you prefer to be more hands on, and update your own content, we can give you a short training on something called a CMS (Content Management System) so you can update the site yourself.

It’s really up to you as far as how comfortable you feel as far as updating your own web site. Some people prefer to have all the control so that they can make updates to their own web site the minute they decide to do so. Others prefer to hand off the web site entirely, as they have enough tasks on-hand that are more important for them to handle directly. Whatever the case we will be happy to accommodate you.