WordPress process.

Kick-off.

Where possible, we would like to have a project kick-off meeting via Zoom or whatever suits you.

This is a short meeting to introduce the team and go through the top-level requirements of the project.

The typical agenda for this meeting is:

Introductions:

• Introduce all team members involved in the project
• Explain the roles and responsibilities of each team member

Project Overview:

• Discuss the purpose and goals of the project
• Summarise  requirements
• Clarify project scope and timelines

Go through the process:

• Discuss the overall process of how the website is created
• Clarify content requirements

Functionality:

• Summarise the functionality required for the website
• Discuss any specific requirements if relevant
• Identify any third-party plugins or integrations that will be required

Project Management/Basecamp:

• Quick demonstration of Basecamp on screen
• Point out to-dos versus Q and A
• Discourage pings as nobody can see them, and they get forgotten
• Mention dates/milestones
• The importance of the sign-off and approval process

Questions

• Any questions about the project
• Any other business

This usually lasts 15–30 minutes, and we suggest booking a time when everyone from your team and ours can attend.

Definition of done.

We consider this stage complete when we have had the meeting.

Research & Planning.

During these stages of the project, we gather everything needed for the new website and discuss options and an approach.

Research.

This is an important stage of the project as it informs and sets the next stages and directly affects the deadlines for deliverables.

This stage includes:

• Understanding your goals (or firming them up from the initial brief)
• Researching your current site (if you have one)
• Discussing your audience
• Design research
• Competitor research
• Content gaps

Planning.

We will discuss your content, including where it is coming from, who is producing it, and when it will be ready.

We need content before we can do anything, as your content affects every other process stage.

We will discuss potential bottlenecks or delays and go through our approval process.

Definition of done.

This stage is complete when:

1. We have a firm written outline of the goals for the new website in Basecamp.
2. We have completed an audit and keyword research on your current site, and all the reports are in the product folder on Google Drive.
3. We understand when the content is going to be supplied.
4. We have a written outline about your audience in Basecamp.
5. We have links to at least three reference sites in Basecamp (design research).
6. We have keyword reports for up to three competitions in the Google Drive folder.
7. We’ve discussed content gaps on Basecamp.

Structure & Content.

This stage describes the content for your site in more detail and starts to outline what will happen.

This is one of the most important stages of the project.

Structure.

One of the first things we discuss on all projects is the top-level navigation – your main site menu.

This helps us understand the site’s overall structure before we discuss detailed content.

It also acts as a list of all the content required for the site and enables us to plan and implement further project stages.

Note that if we are rebuilding a current site on an as-is basis, we will lift and shift your content from the current site to the development site.

Content.

Arguably the most involved stage of any website project, this is where we nail down exactly what is going on with the content.

This stage includes:

• Identifying where all the content is coming from
• Planning other content, such as PDF files, images and videos
• Finalising the content structure in terms of URLs and post types in WordPress
• Creating all the URLs for the content on the project spreadsheet
• Discussing categories and tags and the use of these
• Setting the deadline of delivery for the content we need to start the project

Read about supplying your content here.

Page plans.

We appreciate that planning content can be complex, so we can provide page plans for your main content pages.

These plans list the content you should ideally have on each page.

Once you have the plan, you can decide what content will be possible for the page and what isn’t (for example, we may suggest video content, but this only works if you have video).

Definition of done.

This stage of the project is complete when:

1. We know where all the content is coming from and when it will be available.
2. We have page plans in place in Basecamp for all key pages of the site.
3. We’ve identified where other assets are coming from (images, videos, etc).
4. We’ve set the URL structure for the entire site, and all these URLs are on the project spreadsheet.
5. Categories are identified and agreed upon for posts and any custom post types.

Note that stages two and three are crucial to the success of your website, so we do not progress to the next stages until these are completed in full.

Design & Creative.

Everyone is in a rush to get to this stage, but it’s crucial to do all the planning and prep work first; otherwise, you end up with a website that looks great but achieves nothing.

We will identify the most important pages of your site and design these first.

It may seem unusual not to start with the homepage, but most homepages are collections of content from other pages of your website. If the content for the homepage is built from other in-site content, it makes sense to design that content first.

If you have a clear homepage plan, this will be included in the first-stage design visuals.

Whatever approach we use, we will design one initial page for the site’s overall ‘look and feel’, which will then set the creative direction for the rest of the site.

We design everything we need before we go into build.

All site content will be designed and approved before the build stages.

This includes:

• The homepage
• About pages
• Service or product pages
• Contact pages
• Archives
• And other pages the project requires

The design process addresses the page layouts as a whole, and these pages are then built using content blocks, each block built specifically for the content it holds.

We will also create the site’s design system, which will show elements such as buttons with their various states, blockquote sections, and so on.

As every site we work on is different, the product’s planning stages and your content will inform what needs to be designed.

Design feedback.

All design work is presented using an app that makes it easy to provide effective actional feedback.

We typically allow three rounds of design and feedback during the design process.

The first round of feedback is usually the largest, followed by smaller rounds to the approval stage.

Definition of done.

This stage of the project is complete when:

1. We have completed all the key template designs.
2. All rounds of amends and feedback are actioned.
3. All comments are resolved.
4. There are no further design changes.

Please note that you must approve and sign off on the design work before the build commences. If the design changes at the build stage, the whole project goes back to the design stage, and the process is repeated (which may incur additional costs).

Site build & content.

The creative and development teams have a briefing meeting to discuss the creative and implementation of the build.

We will plan the best approach for your theme based on the content and design.

Build.

For the initial page build, this process includes:

• Setting up the theme on the development site
• Adding your branding and corporate colours to the site
• Building the header and footer sections
• Building the lead page (homepage or otherwise)
• Doing the responsive CSS for this initial page (desktops, tablets and phones)

This initial page will be shared with you for feedback and revisions; as the design work has been approved, we generally allow three concise rounds of feedback and tweaks at the build stage.

Content.

Your content will be added to the initial page as it’s built.

We will work across the site content for subsequent pages, usually starting with the largest sections first.

This process is managed on the project spreadsheet, which is updated as the pages are built out so you can see what’s in progress and what still needs to be completed.

This process is done section-by-section to avoid doing too much too quickly; each section is populated for content and then presented for feedback and three rounds of tweaks and snags.

We will always populate one page first and provide the URL for feedback and snagging; it’s best to get one page sorted before others in the same section are populated.

All pages are presented for feedback in Pastel, which makes adding notes to the in-progress site quick and easy.

We have a simple process for this:

1. Add your comment, which will be marked as ‘active’.
2. We work through the comments and action them, marking them as ‘in review’ once we need you to do something.
3. You review the comments and mark them ‘resolved‘ once approved or mark them back to ‘active‘ if they need action from us. Our team will monitor all ‘active’ comments; you must monitor all ‘in review’ comments.
4. Once all the comments are marked as resolved, the page is complete.

The process is slightly different if your team is populating the site yourselves, but we will discuss this with you in these cases.

Definition of done.

This stage of the project is complete when:

1. All the pages are built.
2. All the content is added to the site.
3. The responsive work is done (for tablets and phones, etc.).
4. Optimisation is all complete.
5. Yoast SEO set-up is complete.
6. All plugins and WP are updated to the most recent versions.
7. All feedback and comments are actioned and complete.
8. Everything has been checked (our side and yours).
9. All the URLs in the project spreadsheet are marked as approved.

Go live.

Once everything on the site progress sheet is approved and signed off, the site is ready to go live.

This process depends on whether you are hosting your site or if we’re hosting it for you.

We will need to firm up:

• DNS management and changes
• Email deliverability

If you are hosting your site on your servers, you must provide us with an empty WordPress site to migrate your new site.

Note that we do not provide support for hosting configuration or issues on servers other than our own.

Definition of done.

This stage of the project is complete when:

1. The DNS are pointing to the new live site.
2. SSL certificates are installed and checked.
3. Our post-live checklist, which contains all the post-live checks, is completed (on the project spreadsheet).

Post-live optimisation.

If SEO is important to your website, then we will need additional time once the site has gone live to enhance your website further.

By default, all our sites are optimised, and caching tools are used to speed up the performance of your site. This is the basic form of optimisation that suits most websites.

Page Speed Insights scores between 50 and 89 out of 100.

In May 2020, Google released new guidance on ranking factors for your website. This is called Page Experience.

If you are in a competitive marketplace and SEO is crucial to your website, we will need to perform more advanced optimisation on your website.

It is crucial that we know this before the design and build of your website project starts, as it affects every aspect of the project.

Advanced optimisation is not a set-and-forget stage of the project, it requires attention on a monthly basis, so we are unable to offer this without a monthly support package.

At the minimum, advanced optimization takes at least half a day to complete (for small sites). The larger and more complex your website, the longer it takes.

Factors that affect advanced optimisation include (but are not limited to):

• Where your site is hosted
• Your DNS host
• The size of your site
• The functional aspects of your site
• Animation and video
• Images
• Javascript
• Accessibility requirements
• Third-party scripts such as live chat, CRM scripts, and Google tools (Analytics etc.)

Advanced optimisation is often a compromise between design, functionality, and speed. As the project progresses, we will advise on best practices for your site.

Definition of done.

This stage of the project is complete when:

1. Caching plugins are installed.
2. We have achieved the highest possible scores that we can in Google’s Page Speed Insights.

Handover & Training.

We provide one hour of training as part of the project.

WordPress is so easy to use that it often only takes 30 minutes to get your team up to speed.

Generally, we train via Zoom or Google Hangouts; the meetings can be recorded for future reference.

We are more than happy to provide the hours of training to as many people as you need on the call, and we can arrange additional (billable) training sessions if required.

Post-live support.

We provide two weeks (max 4 hours total) of free post-live support for your site.

Ongoing support.

We provide a range of maintenance and support plans for all live sites.

We also offer monthly SEO services to improve the ranking of your new site further.

We’ll be in touch once your new site is live to discuss these options.

Definition of done.

This stage of the project is complete when:

1. We’ve completed the training session.
2. Come to the end of the two-week support period.
3. Discussed and agreed on any ongoing support requirements.