Our Web Design and Development processes explained
Are you thinking of having a brand-new website designed and built?
Perhaps you may be feeling a bit out of your depth, or anxious about how the process works? Having a new WordPress, WooCommerce or Magento website created should be an exciting and informative experience. Well that is what we all think at Globalgraphics Web Design! In this article we describe the web design and development processes we undertake to create the perfect website design or ecommerce web design for customers.
The brief
It all starts with the brief! What the customer wants from their website. Of course, everyone wants their new website to look fabulous. But there has to be a purpose for the website as well. For example, is the website for selling art, to promote an event, or to inform people about services being offered? A customer may have already prepared a brief and will send it to us. Alternatively, we will talk to the customer and glean out their requirements to create ‘their’ brief.
The quote
We really need to make sure we understand each customer’s website brief. That’s why we always send out a web design quote document. This document details all the requirements the customer has shared with us for their new website. We actively encourage customers to tell us if we have missed out anything in the document. If we have, we’ll prepare a revised quote and send it out.
The quote document also contains information on how we will design and build the customer’s website and the costs involved. We will also provide different pricing options to design their new website. Any additional options the customer may be interested in are also priced up .
Let’s get started!
Once the customer gives the go ahead, we start the web design and development process. First, the customer is allocated one of our project managers, who will be their main point of contact throughout the project. The project manager’s role is to help the customer understand our website design process and guide them through every stage of their project.
Although each customer will liaise with several of our team members during their project, the project manager will oversee all work activities. The project manager will also make sure that the project sticks to the both the timescale and the budget that was agreed in the quote document.
We also have a project management system in place to help ensure that each web design and development project runs as smoothly as possible. Each customer is invited to join our project management system too. The project management system keeps track of the stages of every project, the communications between the customer and us, and stores any important information for the new website.
The design stages
We offer both custom web design and website theme design solutions. Each has its own process that we follow to create the ‘look and feel’ of the new website. Let us have a look at each of these…
Custom Design:
With Custom Design our web designers will follow the full creative process with each customer. The website will be designed from scratch and we will prepare graphical design concepts based on a customer’s likes and dislikes. Our web designer will ask the customer to provide feedback and further design concepts are prepared.
Sometimes we hit the nail right on the head the very first time with what we have designed! Most often, the custom web design process takes a little longer as we narrow down the design concept until its completely perfect. With custom web design we carry out an unlimited number of design revisions.
Website Theme Design:
With a website theme, the customer is in effect choosing to use a design template that has already been created. We will help the customer choose from the thousands of website themes available in the marketplace. Occasionally, a customer will come to us knowing exactly which website theme they want to use.
Once the desired theme has been chosen our web designers then get to work modifying/customizing elements of that theme. Their mission will be to create a design that fits in perfectly with what the customer has in mind. This process is of course much quicker than designing a website from scratch, which of course speeds up the project’s lifespan.
Time to build
When the custom web design process, or website theme modification/customization process has been completed, we move on to the build stage. This is where our web development team take the design that has been agreed by the customer and make it into a fully functional website.
As part of their work, the web developer will build in the content management system or ecommerce platform into the new website. They will also insert all the content (text, images etc.) into the new website. During the build stage of a website the customer is rarely involved. This is because we will have requested all the information that we need.
Testing and training
Once the website has been built, our web developers will test it to make sure that it functions exactly as it should. They will make sure that the website is compatible on all the differing web browsers. They will also make sure that it is fully responsive on PCs, smart phones, and tablet devices.
Once the testing has been completed, we will then invite the customer for an online training session. During this session, the web designer or web developer will show the customer how to manage the various sections of their website. For example, how to change text and image content in web pages, manage any orders taken on your website etc. At the end of the training session we provide the customer with access to their training video.
Finishing touches
During the training session, if there any issues with the website, these will be identified by both the customer and one of our web design and development team. We take great pride in delivering not only amazing looking websites, but websites that work and function as they should. It’s always best to be thorough before the new website launches as we want our customers to be completely happy.
Any issues from the training session will be fully resolved by our web design and web development team. Once the work has been completed, the customer will always be invited to check our work as well.
Time to launch!
It’s website launch day; the day every customer has been waiting for! Our web design and development team will make sure that everything technical is in place to get the new website ‘live’. We always rigorously follow a standard set of procedures that ensures each ‘go live’ activity is executed.
Once the new website has been launched we will continue to monitor it and be there should the customer have any questions. Each new website that we design and build comes with a 12-month warranty, so if by chance anything goes wrong, we will fix the issue free of charge.
Website Hosting
Every website needs a good home where it is properly looked after! That’s where website hosting comes in. All websites are ‘hosted’ on a server of some kind. We have our own servers and offer a range of different website hosting solutions. During each website project that we undertake we always advise customers on the best type of hosting solution for their own new websites.
For smaller websites, often a shared website hosting solution is more than adequate enough. We often provide this website solution to customers free of charge for 12 months. For larger, more complex websites we offer both dedicated server and virtual private server solutions. All the website hosting solutions we offer are high quality, safe, secure and competitively priced.
Website Support
As mentioned above, we provide a 12 month warranty with each website that we design and build. That means if anything goes wrong with the website, we’ll rectify the issue free of charge. To better serve customers, we provide a support ticket system to manage all technical issues. This means customers can keep track of our progress as we work to resolves issues.
We also offer several different Website Support Solutions, that customers can choose from to extend their technical support past the 12 month warranty. From our experience, customers will have different technical support requirements. That’s why we offer two different levels of support for WordPress, WooCommerce and Magento websites.
Online Marketing
Sadly, just launching a brand-new website doesn’t mean that visitors will come. Many of our customers are keen to invest in online marketing to promote their new websites. The main mission of this it to get their websites seen and visited by customers. This of course in turn helps to boost lead generation and increase sales.
We offer two main online marketing, or search marketing services – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google AdWords (PPC). Both search marketing strategies can be highly effective in promoting websites. We have our own inhouse web marketing team who work with customers to choose the best possible search marketing strategies.
Would you like to find out more?
If you are thinking of having a brand-new website created, or looking to have your current website designed, we would be delighted to hear from you. With Globalgraphics you can be sure of dealing with one of the most reputable web design companies in Toronto. Check out our Google Reviews to read how other customers rate our web design and development services!
Why not call us today on 416 256 7800 to discuss your online requirements with one of our knowledgeable team members. Alternatively, please complete our online inquiry form and we will be in touch with you as soon as we can!
