In our many years of working with various clients in varying situations, we've culled down this process to 3 major functions we expect our clients to provide to us to help them realize their online goals. They are:

1. Homework
2. Design Direction
3. Content

And there are 2 main places where the site will bog down and hold up the projected launch time. They are:

1. Design
2. Content

We'll get into why they become the sand traps of site development in a little bit but armed with this above knowledge we've seen our build times cut dramatically, which is in everyone's benefit.

So, what do we expect from you?

Step 1: HOMEWORK

Answer this question: What type of website do you need?

This seems simple enough, but unless this question is answered completely by the client, the website build will most likely be a rocky process at best. If you don't know what you need, we probably don't either. Yes, we can direct you based on our experience and can come up with ideas to help, but here are some questions that you should have the answers to before we begin:

• Do you need an E-Commerce site?
• Do you just need an online brochure?
• Do you need an over-the-top Flash Movie site with games and all the bells and whistles designed to keep visitors there for hours?
• Do you need Marketing consultation also, or do you know how to use and exploit your site to its maximum benefit once it's launched?

Nailing this overall direction question at the outset is a key to making this process painless, and avoid any costly mistakes or unpleasant conversations (or even arguments!).

And hopefully this part here will put to rest a common myth: there is no such thing as a simple custom website. From a designer/developer's perspective there are only more complicated and less complicated websites using more pages or fewer, but they are actually all a lot of work. The difference between a 10 page site and a 50 page site is surprisingly little. Most of the work goes into the design and flow of the site and then the initial build of the first 5 pages. After that there is an awful lot of Copy & Paste of content. What you are paying for is the expertise of how to build a fantastic home page and an overall sane and simple flow to the data you are trying to get out there and sell.

Step 2: DESIGN DIRECTION

Answer this question: What should it look like?

This is its own step, but it is also a part of the "What Do You Want?" question above. Design is possibly the most important aspect to your site. You should have some idea of what you want in a design before any artwork is begun. Our experience shows that those clients who have the most complete vision of what their site should be have the quickest and most fulfilling turn-around and launch, not to mention successful site. You don't need to be a designer in order to have a vision of what your site should look like. All you need to do is a little homework.

We ALWAYS recommend that you look at your competition's websites. See what they are doing that you think is good and what they are doing that you think is bad. This all matters when you are considering the design and flow of your site. If you are in the Banking industry, you don't want a site with lots of bright cheery colors and dancing bears, and conversely if you have a children's boutique you don't want a very conservative look to your site.

This site is probably not where I'd deposit my money...

Viewing a broad sampling of your competition will give you a good idea of what your prospective visitors will be expecting. And this goes for redesigns and brand-new sites. You have competition, even if you are the first-ever of your kind, there is something that you are competing against - for instance, if you have a new product that vacuums without the use of a vacuum - you're still competing against the vacuum, etc.

This site probably wouldn't be a fun look for the kids...

Colors are very important. Our designers have been trained in Color charts and codes and the general philosophy of color branding. Yes, it all matters. have you ever noticed that all fast-food restaurants use red and yellow? It's not an accident. Colors and their combinations can make a lot of difference in the way someone reacts to your site. We get it, fully.

Lack of vision of what the design should be can lead to too many "try this" type conversations and it is frustrating and expensive. We will never accept a client who says "Do what you think is best" when it comes to the design. We are experts in realizing your vision - not trying to create it for you.

Step 3: CONTENT

Answer this question: What am I (or we) trying to sell?

Clients are sometimes surprised when they learn that they need to actually write the content for their site. Yes, it's surprising to us as well when they find out. You can hire a copywriter if you need to mold your content into better form (and we can recommend many really great ones) or you can sit down and knock it out yourself. But the bottom line is: no one knows your business like you do.

One of the questions we recommend anyone who's embarking on a content-writing voyage to ask themselves is "What Am I Selling?" The next question is "How Can I Break The Information Up?" Ultimately the answer to this becomes the navigation of the site.

From here you can mold your content around to where you are highlighting only important features and benefits and keeping the site clean and succinct. There is some data on this in Chapters 2 & 3 in our Design Guide but there are other resources on the web (one in particular we thought quite good is: http://www.provenanceunknown.com/edit/basics.html).

This content section also includes any images you will need. There are many stock image sites that you can visit to find the images you need. Our fee will always include the price to cover a certain amount of images - and we may even suggest some to you, but this is one of the things that you will need to provide us.

This all may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get into it it becomes more and more clear where you need to go with the content. And if you are redesigning your site then you only need to take a look at the existing content and probably repurpose most of it. but don't get lazy - thsi is a great time to make the content fresh and update it.

If you have any questions you can call us at 818.769.7200 and we'll help you all we can.