How does a website design project work?
If you have never gone through a website redesign before, you may ask what it looks like to create an effective digital marketing strategy.
Before you begin, it may seem like an overwhelming process, but having gone through hundreds at efelle, we’re here to make sure everything goes smoothly and you end up with the website of your dreams!
Website Audit & Recommendations with a Strategist
Your Digital Strategist will work with you to understand your current marketing strategy, any shortcomings, and your business goals to then develop a new strategy for your business. From there, they’ll make a recommendation based on your goals.
Sometimes this entails a website redesign, while other times it’s a more holistic digital marketing strategy involving organic SEO, PPC, content strategy, and more.
Internal Strategy
Once you accept the proposal, our team will meet internally and your Digital Strategist will brief your project team. Your project team consists of a Designer, Developer, Content Strategist, and Account Manager. Your Account Manager and Designer will be the first chosen, based on experience with previous projects similar to yours.
Kick-Off Meeting
The Kick-Off meeting is where the fun can officially begin. You’ll meet your Designer(s), Account Manager, and Content Strategist at the Kick-Off. At this meeting, you’ll discuss timeline, logistics, and your project scope, as well as have an in-depth design discussion with our team. After this meeting, your Account Manager will send a recap and the Designer will begin working on the Homepage and Sitemap.
Website Design
Your Sitemap and Homepage design will take about 2 weeks. Your Designer and Content Manager will work to create the optimal path sitemap and designate what pages need to be designed. We will then present the Homepage design(s) to your team and ask for any revisions. Once the Homepage is approved we will work on the Subpages - that is any page that is not your homepage. These can include service pages, product pages, about us pages, and more.
Content & SEO
We will next conduct an SEO Audit as well as begin Content Gathering. Your Content Maps will be based on your approved Site Designs and your SEO Audit will occur and include a review of the results.
Website Development
Your project Development Phase will begin once all Designs are approved and we have 80% of your content. This will involve less input from your team, but your Account Manager will continue to update you as your site is being built. If you are building an eCommerce website, we will begin configuring your store settings during this time as well.
Ongoing Strategy Implementation
As we build out the website, we will begin to focus on the ongoing marketing portion of your strategy. We will narrow down the tactics you’d like to begin once the site launches and begin preparation for doing so. This can be anything from Ad Design to set up a PPC campaign, to setting up your Hubspot CRM.
Training
As we get close to finishing your website build, your Account Manager will set up a time for a training session. This will be done on your actual site and we’ll show you how to make all relevant changes needed, as well as record the training for your future reference!
Testing
Once the build is finished, our team will go through an extensive testing process, conducting design, functionality, UA, QA, and cross-browser testing.
Launch Day!
We will select a launch day for both our team and yours to be prepared to launch your brand new website! Our Server team and your Account Manager will be working diligently to launch the site, redirect your old site, and make the launch a success!
Ongoing Strategy
As your site launches, we will implement the Ongoing Strategy discussed earlier on and begin working on monthly or biweekly meetings to discuss the strategy and continue to optimize! Your Account Manager will work with you to continue to optimize your strategy and reach your goals.
And that’s it! Obviously, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes, but that’s what you need to know from a high-level perspective?
Do you have a question about the process we didn’t answer here?
We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have about scoping, web design, development, or ongoing marketing strategy. Just fill out the form below!