For many people, starting a website design project is a new experience for them. They have never done it before and frankly might not even know where to begin. In that case, finding a good website design firm becomes more of a partnership because of the consulting knowledge and expertise that they bring to the table. They should know that you need help and answer all of your questions. Let's go over a typical website design process so that you understand how it work and what to expect.
First, before any design work is done, the project must be defined. A very good analogy is building a house. You want to know what you're building - how many floors, how many rooms, what kind of rooms, etc., etc. You essentially need to come up with some blueprints. These blueprints are going to help dictate which tools will be used. You will also have a better idea of what the budget will be once the blueprints are defined.
To come up with these blueprints, the design company will need to know what you want. Think about how many pages you want the website to have. Are there forms for people to fill out to contact you? All of this gets rolled into a site map. Here's what a typical site map looks like:
This is a 9 page website with a blog. The blog page holds blog posts. A blog post is one entry in the blog - one article (more about this in a moment).
Other pages you will need are:
Now it's a 12 page website with a blog. The site map is just a list of all the pages on the website, which is helpful for search engines. You should have a Privacy Policy so that you look trustworthy and are telling people what you are doing with any information they submit to your business. The Links page is helpful for link building (trading links), which you will need to do later.
With the blog, you are going to use that to build content on your website. You will need to post to it at least once a week. Think of a blog (and your website) as a net. To catch more fish (customers), you need a big net. The bigger net you have, the more fish you'll catch and the more business you will get. When you blog about your business, you're adding in keyword phrases that people might search for. Also, your website looks like more of an authority to Google when you have a lot of good content that people are naturally linking to (because it's so good). That's the key to SEO (search engine optimization).
Second, after the site map is done, you should think about which other websites you like and what kind of layout you prefer. The design team will need to know your vision for your website. They will also need your logo in a PSD file and your official company colors (PMS numbers - if you have them).
Third, a Proposal or Service Agreement should then be created by the website design company. This should outline exactly what they are going to do for (and what they will not do for you). Make sure it's more than 5 pages long and make sure you're comfortable reading it. It should answer your questions, not create more questions.
Fourth, once a deal is struck and finalized, the project begins. The time line is finalized and the designers get to work. The designers will first start working on wire frames, which are really rough design images that just show where everything will go. They're typically just in black and white and are not that impressive but the point is that the layout is defined. Things can easily be moved around at this stage (rather than later).
Fifth, the wire frames and sent for approval and more detailed wire frames are worked on and then also approved. The design phase is then initiated.
Sixth, when the design is presented, you're going to see how the home page will look. This is an exact representation of how the completed website will look except that it's just an image and the page is not functional. The links don't work, etc. Tweaks are done until the design of the home page and inside page is approved.
Seventh, the design is coded into HMTL, CSS, and JavaScript. It's then set up on a staging website without any content yet. This can take a week or more since it's a lot of work. The design is tested and then presented to you. At this time (or before), you will need to submit content for every page of your website. Optionally, you can have a copywriter work on your copy so that it's consistent and well written.
Eighth, the content is added and the site is worked on until it has final approval by you and can be launched.
Ninth, the website is launched under your domain name.
Tenth, final testing is done, SEO work is completed and post-launch tasks are completed.
That's it in a nutshell. Your house is built! Hopefully you now have a better idea about what goes into the website design process and better know what to expect. Working with a website design firm in Madison that has experience and knowledge is important so that the project gets done well, on time and on budget.