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The Website Design Process
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Planning
The first and most important step in producing
a Website is to clearly define the specific goals that you wish
to accomplish. It could be simply to establish a presence on Web
or to promote a product or to put information within easy reach
of those who need it.
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The Quote
Upon determining your needs a quote will be prepared.
No site is exactly the same, but many of the components are. You
may plan your site ahead of time and then follow our
pricing guide to know what your costs will be. Milling Around
request 50% of the quoted price before we begin designing. The rest,
including any added design work, will be due upon your approval
of the site and its uploading to the host of your choice.
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Gathering Materials
Based on your goals, we will develop a site plan
that meets your needs. At this stage we will determine the size
of the site and the price You will receive a list of the documents,
photographs, text, and other content that we will need from you.
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Preparing content for the Web
At that point we go to work on your content to
make it web ready. We will take all of the copy, photos, and graphics
supplied by you, create any original graphics, and lay out the
individual pages. Photos and slides need to be scanned and formatted
for the Internet. Text must likewise be formatted. In addition
a navigation system must recreated and implemented. It is desirable
to send text to us in the body of an e-mail. Hard copy or scanned
text must be converted to computer text. This work is charged
by the hour.
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| Uploading the site to a host and choosing a
domain name
The site must be accessible to the Internet. The
host allows people to access your website by giving your site a
place on the internet to reside. Many of you have hosting included
in your internet access packages. If not, we will help you determine
the optimum hosting plan for you.
When your site is completed, it will be placed with
your host. While your site is being created, Milling Around will
give you a special website address where you (and anyone you want
to tell) can view the site in progress.
The domain name is the address that people use
to reach your website. At this time, domain names are very reasonable
to acquire, costing as little as $16 per year. You do not need to
have a domain name.
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Registration with Search Engines
One of the most critical steps in marketing via
the Internet, is to register your new site with all of the most
popular search services such as Yahoo, Alta Vista, Lycos, Webcrawler,
and others. If someone searches for you or your business name on
the Internet, we want to be sure that your new website shows up
in their list. This aspect of website implementation is highly recommended
and comes automatically with our advanced website package.
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| The look of a Web page can vary from computer
to computer
Why hire professional designers such as Milling
Around to design your website? Unlike printed materials, the look
of a Web page can vary from computer to computer. There are a plethora
of operating systems and browsers that influence the look of a web
page. Many of the basic attributes of a Web page, including typeface,
font size, window size and background color, are set by the individual
reader. All of these variables must be anticipated and compensated
for, or a significant percentage of your target audience will see
something short of stunning design. At Milling Around, our experience
will make the difference.
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Maintenance
Milling Around can maintain your
site for you, or can train you to maintain your own site. This work
can be done on an hourly basis or can be quoted as a package. Minor
maintenance is billed as a tab...when the tab comes to over $15,
a bill will be sent. It only takes a few minutes to put a "sold'
sign on a painting or add another event to a schedule. Keeping your
site up-to-date is a sure way to keep people coming back to see what
is new.
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