So, you’re starting a web design project with Smashstar Media? Our team works as fast as you do, so if you want to get everything done in two weeks, we’ll make it happen. A month? That’s good too!
Either way, here’s what you can expect…
Stage 1 – Planning
Before any great site comes to life, there’s a lot of planning involved. What kind of site – blog, online store, download portal, memberships? Our team will meet with you, in-person or over the phone, to discuss your vision and what you want out of your site. We’ll suggest features and ways to bring that to life, and start planning the outline and user experience.
This is also the time when we start to discuss budget and service plans. We like talking about money just as much as you like spending it (we don’t, if that wasn’t clear). We’ll recommend a plan or service contract that will take care of your immediate needs as well as ongoing changes throughout the first year. We’ll send you an invoice that’s dated for the estimated beginning of the project, and due 30 days after.
Stage 2 – The Build
After settling on a design concept and overall plan, we get the paperwork taken care (it’s all digital though) and get to work with the build. We’ll create a login for you and anyone else that wants immediate access to the site to monitor progress or add their own content.
Most importantly, this is the time in the project when you send us stuff – as much stuff as you’ve got! Pictures, Word docs, flyers, videos – anything that can help with the design and content-writing, send it. Don’t hold back! (Unless you try to send a 20GB video file… our email service does have limits, but we have ways around it if necessary)
In most cases, your site will be built on a public server so that you can monitor progress and give feedback, but we don’t advertise and don’t expect anyone to find it. We’ll send you a link to keep an eye on things, and send periodic updates when we accomplish a handful of tasks.
Stage 3 – Preview and Final Touches
By this point, we’ve got most of your new site built out and close to being publishable. We’ll ask for any further changes you want made, and then our team will get right back to work making it perfect.
Once everything looks amazing, and it will, we’ll have a talk about “going live” and announcing to your new site to your customers.
Want to show the site off to your most valuable customers or your employees ahead of time? We can send special invites to these people so they can help with an initial stress-test.
Stage 4 – Go Live and Announcement
In 3… 2… 1… Do you want a silent launch, or something exciting? Maybe a splash page with a countdown? We’ll send out Facebook posts, Instagram stories, tweets, and Snapchats to get word out that your business has an amazing new site and people should check it out.
By the way, we began monitoring traffic the second we got your server online, so we’ll know when the peeps start clicking. Our team will closely monitor performance and traffic to make sure everything works as designed. You’ll start getting monthly reports to your inbox that summarize all of it.
Stage 5 – Analysis and Maintenance
After the first couple of months, we’ll have a lot of data to share. We’ll even prepare a fancy report for you to show to your board or business partners.
At this point, we analyze the success (or failure, but that hasn’t happened yet) of the site and how we can improve even more. We’ll meet to discuss everything about the launch and how it’s affected your business, as well as future plans and goals.
Don’t forget that with Managed WordPress, we never stop working! Our team is maintaining your site, checking in daily to make sure everything’s running smoothly. If anything pops up we’ll be ready to handle it, but chances are we already saw it and fixed it before you even realized anything was less than perfect.
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
We’re always happy to chat and answer questions. Hit that blue button at the bottom of the page to get in touch, or use the contact buttons right inside your WordPress dashboard to call/text/email us.