For many small businessowners, or self-employed entrepreneurs, starting a website can be a daunting task. The steps to getting your business online, and getting your site the way it should look can be very extensive. You’ve got to consider registering a domain name, or if it is not available, how to acquire your domain, arranging hosting, deciding on and/or creating a graphical layout, setting up a store, working with merchant accounts to accept online payments, or learning how to accept online contact requests and other dynamic features. Next, you’ve got to create all of the content, articles and features you’d like to have on your site. On top of all that you now have to fret over security issues and how to market your site.
Even for the experienced computer user this can take anywhere from a week to a few months. Meanwhile, as the businessowner is arranging all of these, it is taking valuable time away from what is really important: their clients. Building or improving upon a current web presence shouldn’t be something that takes time away from clientele or slowly chips away at profitability.
At Discreet Systems, we make the process as simple as possible to get your business online, or vastly improve your web presence. We are able to draw upon the last decade of web evolution to create an intuitive, easy to manage process when improving your site(s). As a full service business development firm, we work as autonomously as possible, only requesting information when it is truly needed. The two processes below outline what to expect when working with us when creating or improving your website’s design and functionality.
New Websites
The following steps will outline the process for creating a new website with Discreet Systems:
- The initial stages: Though the contact method for initial stages of the project may vary (either through e-mail, text message, in person meeting or conference call between your team involved with the project and our creative development team, or any combination of these), the outcome is basically the same: determine scope and purpose for your project. We will determine your type of business, and products/services/features offered, and let you know what to expect during this process. Because we offer a wide array of services, we will also advise other services we provide which will aid in simplifying your vendors & supply chains. The information we’ll be asking for are items such as:
- Whether or not you currently have a domain and/or hosting
- What features you are looking for on your site
- How quickly you need your project completed
- Whether or not you have a budget for the project
- To which industries and/or demographics you cater.
Note that very rarely will we actually quote your project during the initial contact. This is because our experienced development team ensures that the quote (budget, timeline and payment terms, as well as the services we provide) will ensure a valuable relationship between your business and ours.
- The proposal: Once we have the information needed to propose a solution to your online presence and/or other needs, we will draw up a digital proposal outlining the timeline, client responsibilities, budget, payment plans available, features and layout specification for your website, as well as provide a small amount of background information on what we seek to achieve by working with your business. Once this proposal is complete, we’ll guide you to the account section on our site to view your proposal.
- Contract & Acceptance: Upon acceptance of the digital proposal, or contingent acceptance of the proposal, we will then author a digital service contract. This is often times just a copy of your proposal, however this requires a digital signature, and will govern the handling of your project. At this time (if required) we will create a digital invoice for viewing and/or payment. Upon acceptance of your initial payment (You may view payment terms here) we will commence development of your project.
- Project Development: We begin development by creating your site on our development server and perfecting the visual aspects of your site. NOTE: Any minor visual changes are covered by your free maintenace period. We will notify you of the working directory (typically an available abbreviated version of your site’s name such as http://xyz.discreetsys.com) Depending on contract terms, a payment may or may not be required at this point. Once the layout stage is finalized, we will then add the images, content, features, services and products to your site.
- Finalization & Maintenance: Once your site is completed per specification and functional, the final invoice is prepared. Upon finalization, your free maintenance period begins. Every project receives a free maintenance period which aligns with the size and scope of your project, with no less than 15 days. If you have your hosting and/or domain, at this time we will request this information so that we can migrate your site to your hosting and ensure that everything works properly. If hosting and/or domain are included in your project, we will arrange these for you, and send you the necessary hosting/domain login information via e-mail.
- The Launch: Once your site is on your hosting, we will arrange a conference call to get you up to speed on how to manage your site. This includes (if applicable) adding products/services, changing content, checking & fulfilling e-commerce orders, managing a blog, and how to use photo galleries. All of our sites include a feature-rich Content Management System, allowing you to change every aspect of your site without ever learning a single line of code.
- Extended Maintenance: Encouraged, but not required. Many firms charge a “low” initial down payment for a website. This is often as low as $100. This is because they require a monthly payment to allow you the use of your website. This monthly payment can be anywhere from $25 to $300. Our monthly maintenance plans are created so that you can request changes and additions without having a pay per request. Changes for projects not on a maintenance are billed at $15 per 30 minutes, minimum 1 hour. Depending on the size and involvement in maintenance requests, turnaround time is typically 1 business day, but are often completed same-day.
With this simple process, there’s no reason not to contact us to get started!
