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How a customer should be prepare for having an own Web Site?

Sometimes preparing for a web design is the most time consuming AND the most important thing. Every customer usually has very different needs. It is extremely important for us to identify these needs from the beginning.

- Logo & Branding

Does the client already has a logo design? Are they happy with their current branding,and/or colors?

- Scripts and Interactivity

What type of website will the client be needing? More importantly, what type of functionality is required of the website? Will it need certain types of scripts, like blogs, photo gallery, comments etc.?

- Time frame

Some clients will have an absolute timeframe, and others will not. It is important to us about their timeframe so we can make sure, we have the time to accomplish their design in the required time.

- Audio & Video

Will the site have any audio and video needs? If so, what type of players will be needed? Should we go flash or not?
Some notes about Content for clients:

- Number of Pages

Some sites is simple one page, and others are hundreds of pages. We should know early how many pages clients will need. If it’s going to be more than 20 or so, we recommend clients a content management system (CMS). It will be a little easier to keep in order, and also give them the ability to edit content themselves.

- Clients brainstorming

One of the best things we do with our clients is have a brain storming session with them. Some of the greatest ideas of the project will come during the first meetings with our client when the project is new, and fresh, and we are excited about it.

- Similar Websites for examples

We try to have the client give client examples of other websites they like, and explain to us what they like, and dislike about each of the examples. We use this to greatly increase the chance of them being completely happy with the website we build for them.
Perhaps ones of the hardest part of a web design is actually compiling & organizing all the content the client wants. In fact, just getting all the content from the client is a task in itself. Many times it’s almost like they expect we to come to their house or office and go through their content ourselves. However, this is not the case; it is their responsibility to provide content for their website.

- Text Content

This is the most important part of any website. It doesn’t matter how pretty the site is, if it doesn’t have good informative content for the users to read, there might as well not even be a website at all.

- Images, Videos & Music

 

We can’t have a website without some type of images. We ask clients to provide us with the largest possible size. Some images are great for using in the design process as background images and collages.
If video or audio is require being on the website, we will think about what the best way to provide the website users that content. Normally Flash players are the best way to go since it prevents users from stealing the music/video and don’t have to worry about cross platform compatibility issues.

Calculating the Price:

 We try to take the time to figure out exactly how much time we will need to design the website but charging by the hour in a web design situation just won't work. 
So, we charge a base fee for the actual design. The amount is not including the conversion from graphics to HTML & CSS, probably logo designing and domain & hosting fee.
And finally, we put a price together based on the number of pages the client requires. It means the price may vary depending on the amount of content, too.