When starting a new web design project for a small business, we often get asked “What’s the first step?” or “What does my business need in order to successfully have our website built?” Here’s everything you need to know.
When starting a new web design project for a small business, we often get asked “What’s the first step?” or “What does my business need in order to successfully have our website built?” Here’s everything you need to know.
Once you’ve selected your website plan of choice, it’s time to schedule our Project Kickoff Meeting. During this meeting the Launch Kit team will sit down with any members of your team who are going to be involved in the project. We’ll start with a project overview that outlines the steps ahead. We’ll answer any questions your team has and then we’ll get started on the first steps.
The first step is to set up our Project Board. Launch Kit uses Monday.com as our hub for task management and communication. Here is a screenshot of a recent project we’ve been working on.
We use Monday.com to keep track of tasks and who's responsible for what. All of your team members involved will have access to the board.
Once we have eyes on the board, we look at your company branding. It’s important for us to have vector files of your logo, hex code #’s of your colors and the fonts used by your business. This allows us to create a website that is in sync with your business style. If you don't have these brand assets established, we can help you with that, check out our Brand Development service.
After your team has provided your brand assets, we then discuss that high level layout of your website. Small business websites are typically include the following pages:
• Home
• Page for each of your products/services/solutions.
• About us
• Careers
• Blog (Business Pro Plan)
• Portfolio (Business Pro Plan)
• Contact Us
Once we have an initial list of pages to be included in the website, we ask that your team provides us with the necessary information to start building each page.
Example: Let’s say you own a tree service company that provides emergency tree removal, stump grinding, land clearing and tree trimming. We would need to know information about each of those services. Information such as what the services includes, how your team provides the service, why you're the best provider, etc.
Getting to know the details of your products/services/solutions allows us to build web pages that are authentic to your brand. This is a great opportunity for your team to review your products/services/solutions and think about what your unique value proposition is.
No need to worry about the design or making it look good, that’s our job. Your team can compile information in a Word or Google Doc and upload it to our project board.
Once Launch Kit has the necessary information to begin building each page, we create what we call a Website Framework. This is a clickable preview of the website that includes the pages we talked about in our Project Kickoff Meeting. We will use the information you provided to build each webpage and put filler content wherever there are gaps.
Launch Kit will then deliver the framework to your team for initial review. During this time your team will review the framework and discuss what pages should be added, changed or removed. It will also be clear what additional information is needed.
From there we work as a team to fill in any gaps and get the website outfitted with up to date, relevant information. The process is a fun opportunity to analyze your own business. What makes you unique? That’s what we’re interested in showcasing online. Don’t worry, it’s your business after all, we won't ask any questions that you don't already know the answer to. Let’s get to work!
Each year, we take a fresh look at the various marketing efforts a small business can make. We've built this framework to get started optimizing your business's online presence.
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