Putting a site up on the Internet can be a lot of work for both the developer and the client. This is what we do every day, but it can be a frustrating experience for the client if they don't know what to expect. In order to alleviate that frustration and make your web development experience as pleasant as possible, we use a process that ensures that communication is always kept at a maximum and your site is launched as quickly as possible. The time it takes to complete a site will be different from one project to another, but plan at least 30 days between quote and launch.

The consultation is where we discuss your needs and wants as well as your budget and any time constraints. We listen to you as you tell us who you are, what you do, and how you do it. After we have all of the information that we need, we adjourn to put together a quote for you.

The quote is where we explain all of the details of the project in plain English. This includes how your website will look, function, and how everything will work together. The amount of time it takes to build the quote varies greatly depending on the size of the project. This is where we engineer your solution and figure the cost. The quote is one of the primary documents we follow when building the site. We deliver the quote to you for your approval. If everything is to your liking, we send you the contract.

The contract specifies the date that your site will be ready for you to review (this is commonly referred to as beta-testing) and the payment schedule (usually 50% due upon signature and 50% due upon completion, but this may vary on larger projects). Once the quote is initialed, the contract is signed, and we receive the initial deposit, we begin work on the proof.

The proof or mockup is a pictorial representation of how your web site will look. It usually takes about a week to put this together. After the initial proof is completed, we post it on the Web and contact you with the address so that you can look at it. If you have any changes to make after reviewing the proof, including colors, fonts, location of features, etc., we will make them and submit an additional proof to you. There is no limit to the number of proofs that we will do for you, we want you to be satisfied with how your website looks. Once you approve the proof (you will do this by signing a printed copy of the proof), we will go to work on the actual development of the site.

The development phase of the project is usually the longest part of the project. The time spent here can vary drastically depending on the complexity and size of the site. First we create the skeleton of your site from the proof. The skeleton consists of the common graphics, markup, and style. Then we go into to any programming that was quoted.

Clients often ask if they can view our progress on the site, while we won't deny anyone the opportunity to see what's going on with their project, usually most of what they will see are errors from client-side or server-side code. This is a normal part of the web development process. Errors are the site's way of saying it doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work, it's not finished. For larger projects, we often do development in phases with planned reviewing periods.

We do a lot of custom programming. Basically this means we are writing Internet-based software specifically for you. On unique projects such as this, it may take a little more time due to research and development. There is a vast difference between programming and typing. The amount of time spent on programming has nothing to do with the number of lines of code involved.

Beta-testing is when the client will actually use the site's features for the first time. This includes any features available to their web visitors(commonly referred to as the front-end) and administrative functions. While the client is busy testing the site for themselves, we will be busy writing the documentation (help files) for the site. If there are any questions as to how something works, or there are any bugs (software issues or errors), the client is free to contact us at any time.

Bugs are common in custom software, this time in the process is to address these issues and correct them before the site is launched and has a larger audience. At this time, we are ready to correct any issues as soon as possible. It is rare that a correction takes more than 24 hours. After testing has been completed and we recieve your authorization and final payment, we launch the site.

The launch is when we make the site live and available to the entire Internet. At this time, we are still on alert for any issues. During this time, it is suggested that you send everyone you can to the site to look at it. For the first 30-60 days, most of the traffic to your site is going to be sent there by you. Your website now has a broader audience and one of your visitors may contact you with another bug. We are still alert and ready for any issues that come up and will correct them as soon as possible. After the site has been live for over a week, we will submit it to the search engines.