Considering a new website? Improving your existing website? Ready for a website redesign? The following provides tips and information about planning, getting started, and maintaining your new website. This is also a guideline to a typical website design process:

We'd love to hear from you about your website needs.

There are several things that we will discuss with you during your initial consultation. Please be prepared with your information prior to your consultation with TransitionSoft (see Things To Consider section).

Things To Do:

1. Write notes while you brainstorm, including questions you may have
2. Make an outline of your needs followed by the details
3. Organize folders in which you add and keep information and materials for the Website
   1. photos, brochures, company logo, written materials (Advertising, literature. etc.)
   2. Electronic text for the Website, digitized photos, images, logos, and other pertinent information
4. Look at related Websites. This will help you see your competition and get an overall perspective of websites in general which will also help you brainstorm for your own website. Make note of the following:
   1. Websites that you like and why
   2. Websites that you don't like and why not
   3. Any Websites that have elements that you like, such as colors, navigation, overall layout, the type of content and how it's presented

Things to Consider:

1. Purpose of Website
2. Target audience
3. Website content:
   1. Text, and who will write or provide the text if not already available. Some very basic contents might be:
      1. who you are
      2. what you do
      3. how to contact you
      4. list of services or products
   2. Photographs or other images (to enhance or illustrate the text)
   3. Logo
   4. If you haven't already done so, write or gather your content and other materials as needed for your new Website. Website design is based on its content, not vice versa.
4. Ways to bring in new visitors, repeat visitors
5. Budget
6. Other costs:
   1. Website Host
   2. Domain name registration
   3. Database information to make available online (know existing database format, online password access only or available to public)
   4. If you wish to sell products or services online:
      1. Secure server for processing transactions
      2. Merchant account through your bank (or alternatives)
      3. Online purchases by credit card, alternative purchases by fax, postal mail
      4. Shopping cart software, if needed (usually recommended for over 10-20 products or so)
      5. Set up a system that integrates easily with new or existing accounting software
   5. Search engine submission, optimization, and marketing. (Your new Website with TransitionSoft will be search engine friendly, but content optimization is critical, and it's also important to register your new website and follow up with search engines and directories.)

Phase II: Building

1. Contract Agreement and deposit:
   After we've received your first payment, signed contract agreement and required materials (content, logo, photos, other items as noted above), the design and development begins on the date agreed to in our contract.
2. A private test website will be available for review at each step of the design and development process, with regular communications throughout (usually by email and sometimes by phone).
3. When the website is completed, we get your final OK, final payment, and we then upload your new website to your server (or send you the site by zip file or other media, if requested).

Phase III: Making Your Presence Known

1. Website registration with several major search engines
2. Other means of bringing in visitors such as Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing.
3. Add Website and email address to all correspondence, all advertising materials
4. Consider sending announcements or commencing other advertising of your new, redesigned, or improved Website

Phase IV: Website Maintenance and Updating

1. Keep Website content fresh and up-to-date
2. Provide reasons for new visitors to return to your website
3. Add new information as appropriate and update existing information regularly
4. Check search engine rankings and tweak pages and/or meta tags if needed
5. Continue to promote your new website regularly