A web presence describes how you communicate with all visitors, whether they are customers, prospects, members, or have other reasons for seeking information from your website. Like all technology-based applications, website capabilities continue to rapidly evolve. Today, your website might offer e-mail marketing, social media, e-Commerce, memberships, and a blog. The website design and development process you use must take this into account.
Producing a successful web presence takes a clear understanding of what needs to be done and how to do it. Whether you need a site designed and built or already have a site that could use a refresh, Orion Wellspring is here to guide you through the process. We help you evaluate your choices along with our recommendations in a way that makes sense.
Compelling websites are the result of both internal and external teamwork. A good design starts with the foundation of well-defined business goals. With a solid grasp of those goals, you can build a realistic profile of your “ideal visitor.” A site should always be an active, up-to-date resource for current clients as well as a strong magnet for new clients to ensure continued growth.
Orion Wellspring is part of your external team, taking this initial description of company goals and desired clients that emerges from your internal teamwork, and incorporating it into an information architecture which defines the structure, navigation, functionality and content of your website. Next, the elements of graphics, photography, fonts and other design specifics must be blended to make the website visually pleasing. Finally, the site is content-ready for copy that is in alignment with your clear business goals is added. At this point, the other members of your external team—your website visitors—can help you refine your message via their contacts.
Our Approach to Website Design & Development
We recommend the following approach to website development:
Break the site development into phases – The design phase allows us to clarify the information architecture for your site, and establish your development goals and priorities before proceeding to development.
Use a content management system for rapid deployment and easier site maintenance – Using a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress allows you and your staff to make routine content changes to the site without the need for knowledge of HTML, CSS or other web technologies.
Take a “measure-everything” approach to managing the website – This means ensuring you can measure everything important for meeting your goals and using that data to make informed decisions.
Website Design
During the design phase, we will:
- Define the target audience, purpose and goals for your website
- Develop a site schematic, showing the overall structure of your website
- Establish an inventory of the content for your website
- Create a graphic design
Website Development
During the development phase, we will do the following:
- Reserve your domain name and set up your web hosting account
- Install a content management system
- Create pages and other structural elements for the website
- Add functionality for features identified during the site design phase
- Populate the website pages with your content
- Set up visitor tracking and reporting
- Provide training on the use of the content management system