how we work

How we plan, design and work with you to build your website

Being a customer-oriented company, we do our best to make our processes as clear and transparent for you as possible. We adhere to the best practices in the industry to give you a predictable quality result that you expect from your vendor.

What goes into designing a website? There is a lot of planning and preparation involved. Designing a website is like building a home in that It is much easier to make changes in the beginning on the blueprint than it is in the middle of construction.

In the website design process, the majority of client participation is at the beginning, during the planning and materials gathering phases. The information below lays out the steps and what is required to make the website design and development process smooth, efficient and successful.

Our workable 5 part web design and development process:

Judejo.com	Client
Phase 1: Planning Questions to ponder at this phase are more conceptual than technical. What do you hope to achieve by having a website? What are your goals? How would you describe your organization and its mission? Who is your target audience? What sort of content do you wish to share with this target audience? Is it in the form of information you wish to share or products you wish to sell? What sort of interaction does the audience have with this information? How would you organize this information? Will your website require any specialized technical tools, such as a database, a shopping cart, customized scripting for an online form or calculator? Do you have a domain name? Do you have a web host? How are you planning on maintaining the site? Do you need a maintenance plan? Or do you have someone in-house to maintain the website? What is your budget? What is your timeline?	The meeting Upon receiving your web development worksheet, we will review it and schedule a meeting to discuss and plan your vision for your website. The estimate We will put together an estimate based upon your information in the web development worksheet and meeting. Estimates include work scope, costs to be incurred and timeline. Estimates are based upon time studies collected over the years for similar projects. The accuracy of the estimate is based upon the amount of detail and accuracy that you provide. The review You will receive and review the estimate. We will discuss any adjustments that need to be made, and rework the estimate, if needed. The contract A contract will be drawn up and signed by parties, outlining work to be completed, budget and timeline.
Phase 2: Information Gathering The type of information you are going to share with your audience and how it will be organized have been determined. Now it is time to collect your materials. The list below is a sample of materials that need to be gathered and tasks that need to be completed before beginning development on a website. Exact materials will be determined by the website's features such as; Graphics: Keywords: Domain Name: If you don't already have a domain name, it will be set up at this time. Web Host: Your website will receive its home with a web hosting service. E-commerce: Database:	The materials You will receive a list of materials to be gathered and when they need to be received by judejo.com It may seem like a daunting amount of information, but we are available to assist you with any questions to make the materials gathering process easier. We will assist you in setting up your domain name, web hosting account and any other specialized software and services required in the development of your website.
Phase 3: Design It is not until this phase that we actually start putting together a picture of your website. In the Phase 1, we determined your vision for your website, along with preferences and dislikes both aesthetically and functionally. We will put all of that information together in an initial design of the home page. This page is designed in Adobe Photoshop and is a non functioning representation of your home page. (It's just a picture.) We used to create multiple designs for our clients, but over time, clients have responded that viewing multiple designs is too confusing. So, we changed our strategy, and start with a single design and make adjustments accordingly. Having a single design seems to make the process more efficient, and, therefore, more cost effective. You will receive a link to this graphic via email. By clicking on this link, you will be able to view this picture of your home page in a web browser.	The design review Take a look at the initial design. Note what you like and what you don't like about it. When you are ready, contact judejo.com and give us your feedback. We will make the adjustments according to your feedback and resend the page to you. Getting the page right takes an average of three to four cycles of adjustments. Once the look of the home page is decided upon, this cycle will be repeated with the secondary pages. When the secondary pages are approved, we will be ready to move on to development - making the pages functional.
Phase 4: Development & Testing Now that the look of the site has been determined, we will add the functionality. The graphics in the Photoshop files are transformed into CSS Style Sheets, HTML, Javascript, PHP, Flash and any of the other languages and components needed to create your website. As these features are implemented, they are continually tested to ensure that all is functioning as planned - i.e. the pages appear correctly in the major browsers, the links go to the right places.	Testing During this process, we may check in with you occasionally for verification, but most of the work has been done on your part. When we have completed the implementation and testing of the website, we will have you try it out to see if there are any adjustments.
Phase 5: Ongoing Maintenance & Promotion Putting your website on the internet is just the beginning! In order to get a return on your investment, it needs to be periodically maintained. The site’s content should be updated periodically to keep visitors returning to the site. Search engines also look favorably upon sites that update their content regularly. Depending upon whether you have chosen a promotion plan, your site will be continually monitored and adjusted to improve its ranking in the major search engines, according to your chosen keyword phrases.	Maintenance Either you have chosen to go with a maintenance plan, or your website is being maintained and updated in-house.