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one. Evaluate the technical challenge in time
Right at the beginning of the project, check for technical challenges. Try to find out if building the website requires new technologies or software that you and your coworkers have never mastered before. Is there interactivity that you need to program? Need to use software you’ve never touched before? Are there any unusual requirements for the server or system software? Is it mandatory to build the website only on a specific server (LINUX or Windows)? See additional charges for server environment and software licenses. Don’t forget the extra time it takes when using new software.
2. Calculate the correct scope of work
Forget sticking your thumb up into the wind to guess the extent of delivery. Be serious. While talking with your client, take notes of all the main parts that the website should contain. Detail the site architecture down to the lowest level of the organizational hierarchy. Use organizational chart software or just a pencil and paper to create a complete organizational chart. Group similar pages into templates with variable sets of text and image fields. Use excel sheets for each section and template and calculate the full scope of labor. Enter the hours of graphic design, web design, programming, flash, tests, server and database configuration and don’t forget the meetings with your client.
3. Evaluate the correct scope of labor
How many people will work on the website? How many at the same time and how many can only start after others finished a job? Create a project plan. Use professional project management software, a spreadsheet program, or just pen and paper. Calculate REALISTIC labor. Use a guiding principle (every country has a different one. This is an American) for every trade. As a general rule of thumb, you can calculate that up to 25% of the weekly time cannot be counted as labor. For a person with a high demand for creativity, the numbers are even smaller.
Consider hiring freelancers when your staff is too small. But do it on time. At worst, don’t be picky and ask a competitor for help.
Four. Order your steps and know your process.
First things first, right? Once your customer has made the deposit, you’ll get started. Make sure they know your process so you can tell them where you are at all times. But do you know your process? Do your coworkers know? Take care that everyone is on the same page and organize your process like this:
1. Creative part and graphic design of Look&Feel
2. Create a numbered list of all pages and content fields and make it available to all participants.
3. Take care of server settings and domain names
4. Create the templates and placeholders (text and images), including the CSS/Script/Flash
5. Start creating/collecting content (text, images, multimedia, interactive)
6. Create the administration site
7. Configure the database
8. Set up the website and create the pages
9. Enter the content using the administrator or direct access to the database
10. Go beta
5. Get website content on time
The most named reason for a website lagging is the lack of content. And within the missing content, the most named is “missing copy text”. As it comes? Well, most clients think they can write copy themselves or their staff. And we all know that this almost never happens. The text is too small, too big, too bad, or just never delivered. BEFORE you start a great website, make sure YOU have the content on hand or YOU are responsible for creating it. Never start without it. Hire a copywriter and collect your client material on time. Prepare your client’s experts for an interview. Before you start a great website, make sure you personally know everyone your client has appointed in charge of the project. Keep in mind that a huge website has a lot of demand for text and images. Even a 150 page website may need up to 500 different small and large text fields and up to 800 images.
6. Separate static and real content
Every great website has content that needs constant updating. Take care to focus on completing these parts only at the end of your process. Use placeholders instead to test the attributes and quality, as well as the features of the admin site. If the content will be updated by your client’s staff, make sure the related section on the admin site has an extra about good usability. If you use a content provider for real things, check the website interface again and again.
7. Check interactive elements on time
If a huge website has interactive elements, start reviewing them early from different points of view: check different browser and server settings. Take a look at what will happen in high traffic environments. Use providers who check their interactive elements on all traffic and configuration settings and will offer help in resolving future issues.
8. Use content providers
Filling a huge website with content takes a lot of work. Out of sight of your customer, it is extremely important that the content is current. Only then will visitors come frequently and regularly to your client’s website. There are thousands of content providers that offer real, static or interactive information to be clipped on the website. Some are free and display your logo instead of paying and others ask for a small monthly or per view fee. Talk to your customer on time. You may not want to promote another provider’s logo which indicates that you do not pay for a service and will make you look greedy. You also may not want a third-party provider to extract user data from your website. Get approval from your client for each content that comes from a third party.
9. Give yourself enough time for the beta version of the website
To review a huge website for content or technology flaws, it takes a lot more than just two days. Before starting the project, talk to your client and ask them to name people from their staff who will walk the beta version of the website through their steps. As a general rule of thumb, you need a tester for 100 pages per week.
10 Training for your client
Good training is a must if your client will use their own staff to use the admin website to maintain their website content. Schedule training before beta and create material to use. It is good practice to have a PDF manual handy that outlines the entire administration and website management process and also addresses known issues. The handbook should contain phone numbers and email addresses for you or your responsible co-workers so that they are available just in case. It should also contain a complete list of all pages, as well as text and image fields. If the administration site has a database driven user management, you can, according to your client, attach different parts of the website management to different users. This will take a lot of pressure off you. Make sure each of your “content manager” clients has a replacement.
And what is the most important part that the administration site of a great website should have? An “Undo button” that works very well