How to get a website
The process of getting a website up and running with the Creative Collective occurs in just eight easy steps:
1. Select and Register a Domain Name (also known as a URL or web address)
You can do this right now at a nominal cost on our online domain shop or we can do this for you saving you the time and headache of knowing how to do it!) There are a number of legal issues and other things to consider when purchasing a domain name such as how to get a name that will maximize traffic to your site, and how to choose an appropriate name that will work well in terms of brand protection i.e. trademarks. We recommend you talk to us first!
2. Choose a design
When it comes to design we offer two main options:
a) If keeping costs down is key, we have a range of templates which will save you time and money in the design process. Simply select one you like, provide feedback on any changes to colours or design you require and we can modify from there.
2) We can create a custom design websites from scratch, always with strong consideration to functionality and marketing given in the process. The website design will be prepared with your branding in mind and we will ensure it is developed W3C compliant css/xhtml templates. You will of course get to approve the design prior to moving on to further steps.
Either way, generally this process takes around 1 week.
3. Integration
Once you are happy with the design we are ready to integrate it with the selected website system. Which system your design is integrated with will depend on which website and hosting package you have gone for.If you are one of our more sophisticated content management systems, the integration of the design will include the set up of dynamic menus thorough quality checks on cross browser compliance and functionality. Generally this process takes around 1 week.
4. Upload content
To minimise costs, many of our clients prefer to write and supply their own content (i.e. copy and images) as afterall, they know their business best. We are however very happy to assist with copy writing and editing services where required.
The number of pages of supplied content and images we will upload in this phase will depend on what has been signed off on in the estimate, however if you have opted for a fully integrated content management system, you will have the ability to add an unlimited amount of pages thereafter. Similarly when it comes to the sourcing of suitable images, you may like to supply images of your products, staff, premises etc which you already have on file; or we can certainly assist with arranging photo shoots or sourcing royalty and copyright free stock photography from a range of sources. We pride ourselves on being able to source images which are not already 'seen everywhere'.
5. Optimise your website
Simply placing a site online in todays highly competitive web environment with no site optimisation in place is like opening a shop with no signage and no promotions. The process of making your site visible to spiders and search engines is called search engine optimization, or simply SEO. Some of our website packages include us performing keyword research on our professional paid software (not Google Keyword Tools - UGH!!!) and applying on page search engine optimisation (i.e. meta data, page tags, keyword density, alt tags etc) to a specified number of pages. Further optimisation i.e. of further pages or off page optimisation is available at additional charges and is highly recommended for your website's performance.
6. Training
On most of our content management system package websites we include one hour training in the use of the system which can be performed via phone, web cam or where available, in person. At this training we will also equip you with a manual. You are then free to make any 'last minute changes' you may require i.e. add new pages, spelling, grammar, contact details, and familiarise yourself with your new website system. Once you have given it 'the once over' and have given us 'the nod' or approval that you wish to go live, we'll swing into action and get you live!
7. Going live
There are a number of going live procedures which we will action to ensure your website has the best possible chance of performing well from the outset. These include setting your site up with Google Webmaster tools, verifying the site, submitting a site map to Google, submitting your website to the 'Big 5' search engines, setting up Google Analytics and scheduling you to receive monthly reports on your websites performance. At this point we will also set up e-mail addresses which are required.
What happens once I'm live?
Once your site is optimised, you also need to pro-actively promote your website and we recommend a combination of online and offline marketing strategies, as we will outline to you in a proposal.
An online business (which is how you should regard your new website) isn't a fire-and-forget venture. The information on your site must be current, correct and reliable. It will be important to analyze your traffic.
Where are your visitors coming from? How many visitors are you getting? What pages on your site are most popular? Our system comes with an in-built statistical system which you can look up any time. Some of our clients take responsibility for analyzing this data themselves while others contract us to report on a regular basis (usually quarterly) on how the site is performing and what can be done to improve it.
To keep you moving forwards, we offer extensive support in form of wiki, forums and videos available as well as a 'support ticket' request system so you can prioritise your inquiries.
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