Introduction: What is Important
YVOD’s approach to building websites is 100% client focused. Many businesses want to tell their own story. They spend a lot of time talking about their approach to solving problems and why they are so fantastic. While this is very good to know, it is of little importance on the web. A successful website must deliver what the visitor wants to see.
Step 1: Who Are Your Clients
YVOD likes to start the conversation by asking owners of websites to think about who is going to visit their site. We try to develop at least 3 “personas” of potential visitors. These personas may describe existing online visitors, desired visitors or existing offline clients that you wish to convert to online customers. What is important is to think deeply about who these visitors are.
Step 2: Client Expectations
Once we figure out who your clients are, our next step is to figure out what they are coming to your website to find and what expectations they will have while visiting.
Step 3: What To Give Your Clients
Now that we know who is coming and what they expect, we need to figure out what you want to give them. All websites should have a contact page and most should have something describing the individual, business or organization. Beyond that, the options are wide open. Remember: it is always good to give something away for free to entice people into asking for more.
Step 4: Information Architecture
The study of information technology and internet “best practices” states quite clearly that websites should limit the number of main navigational choices. We try very hard to convince our clients that “Less is more”. By offering fewer choices, the visitor has a greater chance of picking the “correct” option for the task at hand. Confusing clients is an excellent way to lose them.
Step 5: Design
After we know who your clients are, what they expect and what information you are going to display, we begin working on design. While we take guidance from existing corporate identity, we often find that because the web is a different medium that it requires a slightly updated look and feel. Additionally, the web has severe design limitation (fonts and colors look different on every computer).
Step 6: Build
While YVOD is busy with design, you will be busy collecting and creating content to fill each page. Once the content is assembled and the design is approved, YVOD will build your website quickly and efficiently. Most builds take less than a week from start to final approval.
Step 7: Updates
Your website should never grow old and stale. In order to keep content fresh and compelling, YVOD recommends that you update your website regularly. Updates can be as seldom as twice a year or as often as every day. We are happy to help you with these changes or we can teach you how to perform the modifications yourself.
Step 8: Online Marketing (optional)
A website can only help you if people visit. YVOD creates websites that are attractive to both search engines and people. We can figure out what your clients are searching for and develop a marketing package that makes sense.
Because everybody likes upward-pointing graphs.