Consult & Educate

What are your objectives?

Identify metrics for your website's success.

Examples: Average daily revenue, average order amount per customer, number of user registrations per week, number of leads collected per month.

Who is your target audience?

Who are you hoping to reach with your site? Be as specific as possible.

Broad example: Businesses in the United States.
Specific example: Web design firms in San Diego

What is your timeline?

Weeks? 1-2 months? 3-6 months?

Website project timelines can vary wildly based on your requirements. A small site can be produced within a week and a large site can take several months or longer. On average a typical project takes 4-6 weeks. Your timeline helps us determine realistic options for your project delivery.

Who will be involved in the project?

List out your contributors, stakeholders and decision makers.

For small projects, this is generally the business owner or marketing director. For large projects, such as ones for government transit websites, stakeholders may include the marketing director, content writers, department heads, IT staff, and executives. Determine who will be directly contributing to the project and who will be approving the work.

Do you have existing marketing pieces and/or branding?

Maintain brand elements and consistent messaging.

Your existing marketing materials can play a big role in your website design. Collateral like logo variations, flyers, brochures, existing websites, and even videos are important to consider when planning out the overall look and tone of your site. If you don't have an existing brand or are looking to rebrand, please contact us about branding packages.

What is your budget?

Solutions for every budget, big or small.

Knowing your budget early on determines the options we should present. There are suitable options for every budget. Generally projects are estimated based on the level of expertise and hours required for the project. If you're able to take on some of the effort and responsibilities, then the costs go down since it's less time requires of our staff.

Who is your competition?

Locally? Regionally? Nationally?

Competitors in your space tend to offer similar products and services. It's helpful to analyze what's effective for them and to identify weak points in their offerings to improve upon for your own website. Depending on your market, you may be interested in comparing local competitors than the leading national brand in your industry.

What websites do you like and why?

Inspiration can come from anywhere.

Everyone uses websites on a daily basis, so you're bound to encounter websites you like. Note what you like about them and why you think it's effective or may be a good model for your own site. For example, if you plan on having a lot of content, it helps to see how a website with a comparable amount of information organizes their menus and pages. If you have a lot of photos for your products, you may want to analyze how leading e-commerce store presents them.

What are the key features for your website?

Start with absolute musts and work through "nice to have" options.

Identify the key features for your website. For example, if you sell goods online, then you would need a shopping cart and checkout functionality. If you're a photographer, then you need a way to show off your porfolio and to book appointments.

The "nice to have" features might be prompting users to sign up for your mailing list after purchase, or to have send a reminder to review your products one week after ordering. Understanding your immediate needs and long term plans gives us options to scope out your project with features prioritized to fit your budget.