Your First Web Site

Building a new web site for your business should be a smooth process. Know what is happening and why.

There are six steps to building a new (or updating an existing) web site.

1. Discovery - Determine the site's WHO, WHY and WHAT.
2. Design - Figure out what the web site will look like, how will people navigate and what pages belong on the site.
3. Development - Zajon builds the web site.
4. Review - One last check that everything is correct.
5. Launch - Make the web site visible to the public.
6. Maintenance - Edit the web site as needed.

Understanding your business and clients helps us build an effective web site.

The Who:

Who are your customers, and who will be using your site? Keep in mind that different people will be visiting your site for different reasons.

• Are you a B2B company with corporate clients?
• Do teens or 20 somethings access your site?
• Are you being visited by an older population?
• Is a large segment of your customers from outside the US, or do they speak a language other than English?

Answers to these and other questions will affect web site design.

The Why:

Understand why people will be using your web site.

• Will potential customers use the site to get basic information about your company: street address, email, phone number and hours?
• Will people use the web site learn about your products and services, before they do business with you?
• Will customers order products from the web site?
• Will client's use the site to help them decide what is the proper product to order, or how much they need?

Answers to these questions will determine what content and extra features need to be added to your web site.

The What:

Once Zajon understands who will be using the web site and why we can determine what needs to be on your web site. In addition to a home page, most web sites have at least these sections or pages.

• Contact Us
• Product / Services
• About Us

Of those three sections, the "About Us" pages are usually visited the least. Other sections that companies want on their web site can include:

• Where to Buy - A reseller or store locator.
• What to Buy - Help a visitor select the correct product and quantity to order for their needs.
• Customer Stories - Who else is using your products / Services. How are other customers using your product?
• Social Media Links
• News / Press Releases / Blogs / ....

Your customers access the internet using lots of different devices: mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computer.

"Responsive Design" is the phrase used by web designers when they mean a site will be designed to function and look good on different devices.

The How:

How does the site get built?
Obviously Zajon will build your new web site; that is what you are paying us for. How much you are involved in the process depends on your comfort level. At a minimum you will review and approved the web site's design and specify what pages to include on the site. (For example: Should the "Contact Us" page only show the company mailing address, phone number and email? Or do you want it to include the sales staff's direct phone numbers and email? Maybe several staff members need contact information on the web site.)

• How is the design determined?
  Does your company already works with a graphic designer? Maybe they created your logo or printed marketing material and you want them to design the web site, but they are not comfortable building web sites. That is not a problem, we have worked with other designers building sites that they have thought up.
  Zajon can also design your web site. Typically, after meeting with you and your team we will present three different designs. After you review our designs and select the one you like, it goes through a couple of minor revisions until you are satisfied.
• How does the text, images and video get created?
  Will you provide content for the web site, or does Zajon need to work with you to edit the words which go on the pages? What about images or video? Zajon can create the images / videos that will go in your new web site or use the files you provide.
• How do you want to maintain your site?
  Do you want to be able to make your own edits and changes? If so, you should be using a Content Management System. If you can use MS Word, then you can edit existing pages or add/remove pages as needed.

We recommend that you choose one person to be in charge of the web site. This person is responsible for making final decisions, they do not need to be the main contact between our company and yours. Although it makes the development process easier if they are the same individual.