Project Kick-off and Strategy Development – Remunerate ~20%
The journey begins with understanding the client’s vision, whether it involves enhancing an existing website or creating a new one from zero. The kick-off phase revolves around meticulous research to unearth the client’s expectations and developing a strategy. Key elements like project scope, priorities, and purpose are established. This phase lays down the groundwork by defining required webpages, features, necessary software and resources, and tentative completion ties. It’s crucial to account for additional responsibilities such as attending meetings when budgeting this stage.
Visual Development – Remunerate ~15%
The creation of visuals entails several steps, starting with wireframes – the preliminary skeletal outlines that highlight the website’s layout sans any design features. The sequence progresses with mock-ups that reveal a more refined, static rendition of the website, including stylistic features like typography and branding. The last step within the visual phase involves prototyping, which acts as a dynamic and detailed representation of the final website, offering a comprehensive view of its functionality. This presents a vital opportunity to fine-tune the design before it is actualized.
Construction Phase – Remunerate ~15%
With a solid visual foundation in place, the actual site construction is set in motion. This encompasses crafting the homepage, establishing a template for internal pages, developing interactive components, integrating payment gateways, and selecting an appropriate CMS. This phase often demands a significant time investment dependent on the complexity of the site.
Content and SEO Design – Remunerate ~15%
Upon erecting the website’s framework, assembling compelling content is key. Determining whether content production is your responsibility or the client will supply text and images is imperative. The content crafted should magnetize engagement and be optimized for search engine visibility (SEO). The textual style chosen should be crisp and engaging, guiding users through the site. For more extensive informational sections, splitting the content and enriching it with engaging visuals is essential. Employ SEO tools and plugins, like Yoast, to ensure content is primed for rankings based on client-specific keyword targets.
Beta Testing and Refinement – Remunerate ~15%
Post-design, the website is subjected to a rigorous beta testing phase to identify glitches and collect user feedback. This phase allows for verifying device compatibility and making final adjustments to align the site with the client’s vision. Test results may prompt further amendments from client or audience input.
Website Launch – Remunerate ~20%
The culmination of the project is the website launch, which should be a streamlined and quick step, assuming the site has met all criteria post-beta testing. The launch involves client consultation on timing, domain connection, DNS and CNAME verification, and ensuring a live, functional site. Be prepared for potential initial issues and consider a retainer contract for ongoing refinements based on user interaction data.
These phases outline the fundamental billing milestones for clients. Estimating the duration of each phase and setting respective prices is prudent. It’s advisable to request a deposit upfront and communicate any stage that might exceed the initial estimate. Featured image via Unsplash.
