Your Website Project Life Cycle
Your business wants to build a new website. You likely have many questions.
How long will the process take? What are the steps from signing with a website development firm to my go-live date? Will my voice be heard throughout the process?
At Legend Web Works, we have built custom websites for hundreds of organizations all over the greater Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky areas. We have seen the questions and pain points that business owners so often face when building a new custom website or refreshing an existing website.
A comprehensive consultation process is essential for your site’s success. A rushed consultation process or one where your voice is not heard will result in a custom website that targets the wrong audience or does not meet your needs. That is why your input and suggestions are so valuable during the consultation process.
This post is your guide for the life cycle of your website project at Legend Web Works, from our first conversation to your go-live date. We will walk you through our four-step consult process to help you better understand the life cycle of your custom website project.
What Can I Expect from My Custom Website Development Process?
At Legend Web Works, we split your custom website process up into a four-step consultation process, spanning 16 weeks.
Let’s take a look at each step of the process so you can know what to expect and what to prepare for each step of your custom website project.
Your First Step for SEO and Website Success - Consult 01
After your initial discussions with our business development team, your path toward custom website success has begun.
Before your first consultation, you will receive a welcome letter from our team introducing you to your designer, project manager, project coordinator, and SEO specialist (if applicable). Here you will also get the opportunity to introduce us to your brand. You will receive a questionnaire asking about top competitors, long and short-term goals for your business, and what makes you unique.
Consult one is all about getting to know you as you get to know us. This meeting will last between 30 and 60 minutes and will take place a few weeks after signing your initial contract. You will meet with your project manager and graphic designer. Together we will discover what you want from your website. What do you love? What do you hate? What drives your business? What is important to you? The same things that make your business great will make your website great too.
Website Branding - Consult 02
Based on the discussion from consult 01, your project manager and your graphic designer will create three distinct mood board options for you to choose from. Mood boards are an effective way to help you decide on colors, fonts, and other site elements which will make up the visual results of your custom website.
Though you are presented with three distinct mood board options, you can mix and match elements from different mood board options to settle on the elements you like best. This helps create a custom design that is driven by your preferences and creativity. The final mood board will serve as the visual foundation of your website going forward.
Consult 02 lasts about 60 to 90 minutes and you as the client are heavily involved in the process. We want to hear what you want for your custom website to ensure that you get a finished product that you are overjoyed with.
After the mood board presentation, consult 02 will end with a discussion on website structure. We will build the rough skeleton of your website including which pages you want (home page, about page, products page, it’s all up to you!). Our team will also help you choose some other aspects you want for your site layout like if you want a super navigation, which icons you want, whether you want a slideshow, and which kinds of callouts and pulls you prefer.
There is a lot of ground covered in consult 02 and it is a great opportunity for you as the client to develop a better understanding of what you need in a final custom website.
Website Design - Consult 03
Consult 03 is often the most intensive portion on the path to your dream custom website. During this consultation, your project manager and graphic designer will present three website mock-ups for your thoughts and input. Nothing is set in stone during this consult, so this is a great opportunity to make edits and bring ideas to the table.
You will see mock-ups for three versions of your site.
- A desktop version of your site
- A tablet version of your site
- A mobile version of your site
Each version will give you an idea of how your site will appear on different devices. In addition, you will be presented with some layout examples so you can make suggestions for changes.
Consult 03 will last approximately 90 to 120 minutes and any suggestions or alterations you request will be made by our graphic designer during this meeting. For example, if you want to try out a different font, or color, or if you want to add an entirely new element, our graphic designer will make these changes in front of you so you can get a real-time idea of how your site will look based off your input and ideas.
Between consult 03 and consult 04 we ask that you complete any content work, so your live site accurately reflects your business goals and attracts the proper audience.
Website Creation - Consult 04
The last step before your site goes live, consult 04 is a one-on-one meeting with you and your project manager. During this phase, each page of your site is reviewed and any additional changes you want will be made before your site launches.
Consult 04 gives you a clear idea of what the final product will look like. At this point, the Legend Web Works team will request that you stop working with any of your site’s tools so our development team can make any final touches.
During this meeting, a go-live date will be scheduled. Go-live dates are flexible and can be set based on approval by you. However, Legend Web Works will always have your site ready by the originally agreed upon date.
Generally, your go-live date will be set for three weeks after consult 04.
Legend Web Works Makes the Web Works for You
At Legend Web Works, we are committed to helping you build a website that allows you to expand your influence digitally.
If your business is planning to build a custom website or refresh an existing one, you can’t afford to go it alone. Your business needs an experienced partner who can deliver a superior website that gets results and attracts the right audience.
Legend Web Works is that partner. Our goal is to give you the transparency and collaboration you need to create a website that launches your business to the front page of Google and keeps it there.
Ready for a website that makes the web work for you? Reach out to Legend Web Works today for a new or updated custom website.
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