GETTING STARTED
So, we have figured out what you want and established a basic structure through which we will be presenting your organizational message. That was the easy part — now the real work begins. Every word that will appear on the site needs to be written; every image needs to be provided; every resource needs to be identified. Unless you have been through this process before, it will be more work than you imagined — a lot more.
As you start to write and share your copy with co-workers and colleagues, another surprise will likely greet you. Writing down who you are and what you do provides an opportunity for reflection that most organizations rarely take the time to do. Almost without exception, our clients have a “Who are we?” moment in response to their initial drafts. This creates a wonderful opportunity to reassess your vision, mission, and the tools you have to serve them, but it often slows down the process. If you handle this well, you will have not only a better website, but also a better understanding of who your organization serves and how it functions. Just make sure you have budgeted ample time to grapple with the “big picture” issues that may arise.
These are some of the tasks at hand:
- Provide domain name and hosting information. If you already own a domain name and/or have a contract with a hosting service, please supply all usernames and passwords for us to gain access at the admin level. We’ll need to confirm that the current hosting plan is sufficient to support your new site. If you have neither purchased a URL nor signed up with a hosting service yet, we can suggest vendors.
- Create a detailed outline of the entire site that shows every layer of subnavigation. Often, we collaborate on initial drafts and then you fill in the details later. Some clients prefer to do a first draft on their own which we then review.
- Assign writing tasks. For smaller sites, the writing is usually done by one individual. For larger sites, various people within an organization often have their hand in the writing. We generally facilitate and guide this process. In an ideal world, a professional writer/editor would be responsible for the copy, though this is often beyond the reach of many small nonprofits' and businesses' budgets. We recommend that you consider hiring an outside consultant when your budget allows. (We work with several that we recommend highly.)
- Create and/or collect visuals. Some organizations have a lot of visual resources. Others have virtually none. First, we need to establish a basic approach to visuals. Then, based on budgets and schedules, we need to assign their collection and/or creation.
- Create realistic schedules. As mentioned earlier, creating and collecting all the text and images for a website, even a small one, can be a daunting task. This time-intensive, time-sensitive work often falls on people within an organization whose time is already overstretched. We can help you create realistic expectations and help you keep on track.
- Establish a realistic review process. Make sure you leave enough time for key individuals to review the site. We recommend that copy be reviewed carefully before we integrate it into your pages. However, that isn’t always realistic. Once the site is live — before it goes public — you will have the opportunity to make any edits you wish. But if you still have a number of “proofreaders/editors” chiming in with substantial changes, it could easily cause delays. The bottom line: establish realistic deadlines, and then keep to them.
- Work on database-driven pages early. Depending on the complexity of and the quantity of data-driven pages on the site, be sure to start providing the data to us early. Writing code takes considerably longer than simple page construction. We should be working on organizing your data early enough to leave ample time to test the processing and tweak its design and function.
- Be prepared. There are a LOT of elements to coordinate while preparing the content on your web pages. It is best to anticipate the site needs as early on in the process as possible. Inevitably, as we collaborate on the site, we will discover functionalities that might have been overlooked. But, the more prepared you are in the early stages of production, the easier it is to schedule the work at hand and the less it will ultimately cost you.
