Why does my organization need a web site?
This is a question rarely asked anymore, but it is a good place to start. More and more, for both personal and business purposes, people are going to the Web first to find information, get an initial impression, purchase products, get directions, or simply lookup a phone number.
The Web represents a revolutionary value in making your message available to almost anyone, anywhere, at anytime; without printing and mailing costs, or the associated delays. In fact, establishing a permanent web site presence on the Internet may cost less than producing and distributing a single professional quality brochure. And unlike printed material, you can make changes at anytime—without having to physically reprint and distribute anything.
Save time, save paper, save gas.
The bottom line is, if your organization doesn't have a web site, you are missing-out on an incredibly cost-effective tool. And worse, you may lack credibility with—or even be invisible to—your potential market.
What makes an effective web site?
First, an effective web site is what your viewers want it to be. People won't spend time on a web site that doesn't give them what they want, when they want it. Your competition is only a search screen and mouse-click away, so you must be truly customer focused on the Web.
Therefore, your web site should be easy to find—search engine friendly, quick to load, simple to navigate, and deliver the information people are looking for, clearly and concisely. You also want to give people a reason to come back; so, you should keep your content updated and fresh, focused on what interests your clientele.
The more experience you gain with the Web, the more you will see these success factors are interrelated—in both process and technology. The more concise and relevant your web site is, the more likely it will work well technically and communicate to your viewers. Achieving this requires adequate up-front planning, a solid partnership between client and designer, a flexible but sound project methodology, and efficient application of web technology.
Note: F28 specifications, methodologies, pricing, and service offerings are subject to change without notice. The specifics of your project are discussed and solidified during the first several project steps which culminate in a written agreement subject to your approval.
What is the process to create a web site?
Creating an effective web site is something of a journey for most organizations as it involves taking inventory of what your organization really does and how to best communicate it. While each project is a little different, the steps F28 generally follows are outlined below.
While the process is shown as discrete steps here, the actual work tends to be iterative with reasonable accommodation for inspirations along the way that may require some change to work already done. Open communications and a flexible project methodology allows for this best-of-breed currency while minimizing schedule and cost impact.
- Step 1. Introductory Meeting. Discuss needs, possible solutions, and general expectations to determine if F28 is the right fit for your organization's project. The meeting (or call) usually takes about an hour and there is no obligation or charge.
- Step 2. Project Definition. Discuss and document specific expectations, goals, requirements, participants, schedule, and any other important considerations. The design agreement should be reviewed in detail to ensure all needs are addressed. This step usually involves several meetings or calls and some homework.
- Step 3. Proposal. F28 expands the scope into a proposal that includes a statement of work and fees, the web design agreement, and possibly a tentative design concept for your approval. Depending on the scope and duration of the project, an initial payment or deposit may be required in order to proceed. Overall, this step may take a week or more depending on the project scope and your organization's purchasing process.
- Once the paperwork is approved, the project officially starts.
- Step 4. Information Design. With F28's help, you identify and translate your requirements into a detailed outline of the desired web site content. Presentation software, a word processor, or basic HTML pages may be used to record, review, and evolve the outline—whatever helps best to pull it all together. This outline should also provide the basis for creating an accurate inventory of existing and to-be-produced content. Preliminary page and menu titles, and meta page descriptions, should also be decided and documented in this step. The client should expect to be actively involved during this phase and the schedule greatly depends on how well you know what you want and your availability to participate.
- Once at least 80 percent of the Information Design is complete, we move into Visual Design.
- Step 5. Visual Design. F28 creates or updates a visual design mockup based on the approved information design. One or two prototype web pages are usually created to validate the ability to translate the mockup into a feasible web site implementation. Ideally the client should also involve several or more "user testers" outside the project team to provide candid "user feedback" moving forward. Production of any new content should begin in parallel with this step.
- Once at least 80 percent of the Visual Design is complete, we move into Coding.
- Step 6. Coding. This step wraps-up any loose ends from the Information and Visual Design phases, including all the content. F28 will then integrate all these elements with the necessary background technology to create a fully functional and styled web site. Frequent reviews of work-in-progress will minimize surprises and help keep the project on-target.
- Step 7. Final Review. We will both review the entire web site, and then F28 will make any final adjustments, and if needed, upload the completed web site to the production server. Once finalized, F28 and you will verify everything is present, works, and is accessible, and therefore ready for your sign-off.
- Step 8. Launch. Once approved, F28 will remove a temporary file and make the web site visible on the Internet or your intranet. Launch may be contingent upon full payment based on the written agreement.
How much does a web site cost?
While web sites come in all sizes and costs, we know this is what people usually want to know first, so we provide a ballpark idea below. However, this is not a commitment regarding any specific project as a custom web site is just that: custom—designed around your specific needs.
The Web is perhaps the most cost effective marketing and information delivery tool available. Increasingly, people are using the Web routinely to get information and purchase products. A web site lets you meet your patrons where they are, and update your content at any time, with minimal delay or cost.
First, consider the project steps in the previous FAQ answer. As you can see, a custom web site is a significant project that requires forethought, planning, interaction, creativity and technical competence. When you hire F28 to build your web site, it is not unusual for F28 to invest a person-month or more of time to bring it to successful completion. Therefore, you should expect the cost to be at least commensurate with F28's resource investment and expertise. With that in mind, a medium-sized web site utilizing mostly client-provided raw content will likely be in the $2500–7500 range and take four to eight weeks of elapsed time to complete once the design agreement is approved. A simple site with a few pages may be less, while a more technical site or a site with significant new content creation may be more. All of this is discussed and agreed upon prior to starting any billable work, and the work can be arranged on a fixed-bid basis to provide cost security.
There are a couple of other minor but required outside expenses to consider. First, if you have not done so, you will need to register for a domain name with a domain registrar (to get your web site address on the Internet—the www.yourcompany.com). Second, you may need to arrange for web hosting—the company that provides server space for your web site files on the Internet. You then configure your domain name, via the registrar's web site, to point to the hosting company that is providing your web site server space.
These two items together are usually less than $200 per year, and F28 can help you obtain them if you like. This gives you control over your domain name—a critical business asset—and where your web site is hosted. While many registrars and hosting companies offer these services together at a discount, we recommend using a separate registrar and hosting company so you can change your hosting without being dependant on the hosting company you are leaving to handle your domain name administration.
Why your organization should use F28 Web Design
We listen, we mentor, we meet your needs:
- We are not a web site mill; you don't throw material "over the fence" and hope it comes back the way you wanted. With us, there is no fence, we work together to design your web site around your specific goals. We also explain the process and technical considerations to help you make informed decisions about your web site.
We are dedicated to great design:
- We are dedicated to developing a web site your patrons will find attractive and easy to use, which is a good reflection on you.
- We follow a flexible project methodology based on iterations of design and development involving frequent client feedback, so that when the project is done there shouldn't be any surprises.
We are open and flexible:
- We do not require that you sign-up for maintenance programs with reoccurring monthly or annual fees; we can even design your web site so you can update the content yourself. Or if you prefer, you can pay us or someone else to do this on an as-needed basis.
- We do not control your domain name registration or web site hosting; you set this up directly with the service providers of your choice—which also means you can change them. While we believe you should have direct control over these services, we can help you get them setup.
How does F28 work with out-of-state clients?
F28 has considerable experience in working with people located elsewhere in the country, in fact this has become fairly normal for web projects. The important consideration is that the level of communication inherent in our project process ensures that we get to know our client's needs very well. Between phone calls, emails, and having work-in-progress available for review on the Web means you know what is going-on and have input to the deliverables throughout the project. It is, of course, ideal to have at least an initial face-to-face meeting, but it is certainly not necessary for success.
What does “F28” mean?
“F28” is the result of searching for a name that invokes visions of something fast, competent, and on-target; and pragmatically, a name that is short, easy to spell, and memorable—F28.