We at Marsh Media have spent the past seven years focussing our efforts on brand development with websites. We work with our clients through each stage, Project Brief; Planning; Design; Development; Testing and finally Delivery. An additional option is Maintenance which shall be discussed further on.
Project Brief
To understand the purpose of the website, we firstly need to know the business, the project intentions and what results you are looking for. Our team have been project management trained and therefore will ask the specifics to better understand the needs of the business and the customer.
Things to consider:
Business- brief explanation of the business, the target audience, the product or service offered, expectations of the business over the next three to five years. Marsh Media will ask questions about the business to ensure that the website will meet its needs. There have been many times where we have recommended alterations and improvements to better support the needs of the business which have been overlooked by our client. Fresh eyes with a touch of insight about the industry can be all that is needed sometimes.
Purpose of Site- What is the purpose of the site? Is it an informative website, selling products or is it promoting certain aspects of the company? Marsh Media have dealt with an array of clients who are unsure about how to answer this question and therefore it is essential some thought goes into this. We understand the basic needs of a website in these times, however web presence should not be the sole purpose of creating one.
Goals- What will the business hope to accomplish by building the site? The typical goals are to either share information or to increase sales.
Target Audience- What audience is the site aimed at? Describe the ideal person you want to visit your website. It could be that the website is targeted to a different audience that the business traditionally appeals to. For instance, Waitrose the supermarket targets its physical stores to predominantly upper middle class and middle class (A, B and C1) older people, however its online store appeals to upper middle class housewives and affluent business professionals who lack the time to go into their physical stores.
Content- What type of information is expected on the website? How will this support the business? Content is key to enhancing SEO and engaging with the audience. The business must evaluate what information will clog the site up, what will be read, and what could support the SEO further.
The information gathered from the meeting with be assessed, recommendations put forward, and once a the direction the site should take has been confirmed by all parties, Marsh Media shall move onto the planning stage.
Planning
This is where a site map is developed. Marsh Media will list the main topic area of the website and serve this as a guide to the navigation of the site. Deadlines will be set by our experienced web designer chosen for the project and this person will speak directly with the business about the technology used and why, the way in which content will be added and the stages to come.
Design
Marsh Media will use the information gathered from the Project Brief to design three initial front pages to give our client. These designs will aim at the target audience therefore it is important that the business recognise this. A website aimed at gamers would need to incorporate the gaming colours, text type and imagery. The client should therefore be aware that if they are not the target audience, then they need to imagine they are to fully appreciate whether Marsh Media are meeting the project specifications.
Once the front page feel is attained and amended to our client’s preferences, Marsh Media will design the remaining pages which can be viewed by the business throughout this and the development stage at any point. This is to allow the business to give input as often as possible and to reduce scope creep occurring.
Development
This is the stage where the website is created. The homepage is first developed as the template for the remaining pages. Access to the website will be given to the client at all times and input is encouraged throughout.
Testing and Delivery
Once Marsh Media has completed the website, it will run its own tests to ensure that the site is fully functional and meets the Project Brief and Design that was agreed by the business. After this we offer the business an opportunity to test the website before we complete the next stage of delivering the website to the business space and domain name.
Maintenance
Many of Marsh Media’s clients have opted to have us maintain their server space, their domain name, SEO and any issues that occur. Knowing the intentions of the website and building it to the needs of the target audience, we already have the knowledge required to effectively deliver a quality maintenance contract which can be offered for a short term (3 months) or long term (1 year) basis.
