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Pick from over 40 Footlights ecards... |
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24/7 tech support |
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T3+ line |
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Hosting solution should grow as your site grows |
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Server technology must accomodate the number of users on your server |
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Knowledgeable systems administrators |
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Get references from friends |
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| What are the advantages of good website design? |
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| What does a web designer do for my money? |
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| How can I help my web designer? |
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| What other costs are involved in putting a site on the internet? |
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| Can web developers create a template for me so I can create my own site? |
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Will my site look good on all computers? |
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| 1. |
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Initial Consultation: Many web design
houses will offer a free initial consultation with a potiential client to
discuss the reason for the site (is it to educate, entertain, sell products?),
the target market, the site's goals, how the site is to function, colour schemes
and layout. Before this meeting, a good web design team will research your business
on the internet to see what your competition is offering |
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| 2. |
Mockups: The web designer takes the information
gathered at the initial meeting and uses it to produce a "mockup" or "comp".
Mockups are images of prospective layouts for your site. They are usually very
detailed - typography, colour schemes, navigation, graphic elements, sample body
copy are all laid out in the image. Mockups can take anywhere from a couple of
days to a couple of weeks to prepare, during which their may be refinements to the
mockups. Once the client has decided on a layout, the web programmer will use the
mockup as a template for coding the site. |
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| 3. |
Graphics: After the customer has chosen a mockup, the graphic designer
will create any custom graphics required, optimize provided photos and logos for viewing
on the web. Part of this process will have begun during the mockup stage. The colours may
be modified to create images that are crisper and punchier. The photos will be cropped to
emphasize points of interest and all images will be compressed in a variety of ways so the
download is zippy. Good graphic artists will preserve the integrity of your branding. |
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| 4. |
Coding: Depending on the functionality of the client's site,
the designer may code in ASP, HTML, ColdFusion, PHP or any combination thereof.
Some prefer to handcode the entire site because the code written is often
"cleaner", meaning that it results in pages which download faster. Others will
use a code generating program such as Dreamweaver. Whichever method is used, the
coding part of the web design process is perhaps the most intensive and time
consuming activity. Depending upon the complexity of the site, this can take
anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months. |
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| 5. |
Testing: The website is now tested extensively to see how it
functions in the most popular browsers, at differnet resolutions and (if possible)
on different platforms. The goal is to ensure that the site looks good and works
properly anytime, anywhere. Again, the testing period can be quite extensive
if the site is a complex one. At this time, many web designers have the client
test the website out on potential users. Any feedback can be used to further modify
the site if necessary. |
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| 6. |
Uploading: Once everything has been thoroughly
tested, the web team will put the website up on the internet using an FTP program. |
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| 7. |
Marketing: The web design group will discuss various ways of promoting
the site both online and offline with the client. With online marketing, the goal
is to get your site ranked high on the major search engines and directories. When a user
searches for companies supplying similar products to yours, a high ranking will ensure that
your company name comes up within the top ten on the first page of search results.
A word of caution: if you are selling something that large corporations also sell there may
be serious competition for your keywords, think of "beer", if you expect to rank high for that
search term you may have to invest in an expensive pay-per-click program. Maybe then your best
option is to bank on your regional market, a much more realistic expectation would be that
you would rank high if people search for "micro-brewery Toronto" after all that may be your desired
niche anyway.
As part of your website development package, your site will often be submitted
to search engines and directories for free. The team might also help you develop
an offline campaign to promote your site. This could include print, radio and
television advertisements. |
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