overview of the design process
The routine for getting a new web site built by Aporia Web Design generally goes something like this:
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Initial Contact and First Estimate |
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You collect your thoughts on what you want to accomplish with your site. Complete our contact form as fully as you can. |
We try to get a picture of what you have in mind and work up an estimate to match. We may ask some additional questions for clarification. Then we email and/or phone you a ballpark estimate. (See Rates. There is no cost to you for up to one hour of this first consultation.) |
Followup and Firm Estimate |
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Assuming we get to this point, you may be asked to supply more details. |
We work with you to make sure you know what is involved so there are no surprises later and we may pin down the estimate more in light of new information you. We offer a written proposal that includes a description of the site we can build for you, how long it will take, a good estimate of how much it will cost, and any conditions we are both assuming, such as the domain name we will use and where the site will be hosted, how many pages, images, forms, etc., any related email accounts, ecommerce capabilities, if any, and so on. |
Prepare, Deposit, Build and Test |
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You round up any design elements you will provide such as a logo or image you wish to define your site (assuming you have these, otherwise we can work this into the design project). You should also have the text and image content of your site ready, assuming we have agreed you will provide these. Next, you agree that we should proceed, pass on to us your defining material (just described), and pay a deposit to get us started. (See Rates for more detail.) |
We get busy working with your materials. In most cases, especially on larger projects, we will pause and install drafts of our work once or twice during the process on a temporary web space for your inspection and so that we can both make sure we are on the same wavelength. As we near completion of the site we will ask you to take a close look at your text content to make sure it is clean and clear for your human readers—but also, very importantly, that it is search engine-friendly. Text on a web site is easily corrected at any time but in writing for the web you should always remember you are not doing email, you are writing both for the world at large and for search engine software with a certain agenda. Nothing mars an otherwise respectable site like typos and incomprehensible sentences. But few sites will get even the chance to be judged by humans as “marred” unless the search engines can work with it first. If you need help with getting your text right, we can arrange that, too. (See also Search Engine Optimization.) We will, of course, make sure that everything works as it should, not just in your favorite browser but in all the major ones and a few important minor ones as well. We also test across different platforms (different flavors of Windows, Mac and even Linux operating systems). The spectrum of machines used to browse the web is increasingly expanding to include screen widths ranging from 20+ inches on some desktops to just 2 inches on web-enabled cell phones. A well-designed web site should function well on all of them. (See Standards Compliance for more on this topic.) |
Site Debut |
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You agree we are ready to go live. |
Final tweaks are made and we install your site at its permanent home on your host or one we have procured for you. Finally, we let the major search engines know where your site can be found. (See more on Search Engine Optimization.) We submit our final design bill. |
Closing |
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You pay the balance. |
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At this point any future changes you may want us to make on your site will be billed at our hourly rates (unless we work out a regular maintenance contract). Consider also our article on Content Management Systems in case you would like to save money long-term and/or have a more hands-on relationship with routine text changes on your site without needing to know code.
