Web Projects - The IRBS Way

Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 December 2010 10:03 Written by Administrator Monday, 06 December 2010 10:13

We at IRBS believe in a professional approach to any project, whether it is a small website of just a few pages to create some internet presence, or a huge dynamic e-commerce project. On this site we present you various tools to complete a project in a modern, dynamic and professional way.

An online, comprehensive quote request process to make sure important information on the client, their products/services and target audience and goals are captured.

All customers will have their own client area on this site where they can discuss the project with the developers, monitor status and progress and exchange documentation.

The Design Process

The process of designing a website is a combination of technical and creative skills. Of course, we all want to have a modern, pleasant looking website, but foremost it is important that the end-product meets the requirements of the client. Sometimes these are very basic and have all to do with just presenting information. In other cases they can be very complex. It is important to us that we capture all relevant requirements carefully as this defines the quality of the end product. The quality of the end-product affects both the reputation of our client as well as our own as a design company.

The design process consists of primarily three phases, at the end of which the interim product will be a "design comp":

01Discovery.. The discovery component of the design process is about meeting the clients and learning what they do. Gathering information about who our clients are and how they run their business is vital in coming up with an appropriate and effective design. Our comprehensive list of questions in our online quote request tool will assist in this.

02Exploration. In this stage we will analyse and process the information obtained in the previous phase. This is an interactive process in which we will interact with the client to clarify information where necessary. At the end of this phase we will have a full proposal for the website.

03Implementation.This is the last step of the design phase and here we will convert the proposal from the last stage into an actual design comp. When the design comp is approved by the client we can continue and actually start building the website.

The word (design) comp is an abbreviation of the phrase “comprehensive dummy,” a term that comes from the print design world. It’s a complete simulation of a printed layout that’s created before the layout goes to press. In translating this term to web design, a comp is an image of a layout that’s created before we begin to prototype the design in HTML.

The Building Process

The building process is the stage where we convert the design comp into a working website. Depending on which features are required, various tools and systems will be set-up and/or developed for the website.

During this process the client will be informed on status and will be able to see intermediate versions of the end product. We will do this via our client area and by giving them access to a test server where the intermediate product is temporarily hosted. In that way, the customer is involved throughout the whole process.

When the site is finished, all content, delivered by the client, will be added to it. When all content is loaded on the site and the site has been tested it will be moved to the production server and put live.

Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO in short) is a crucial element of every website - as of course when you have your new website, you want people to find it. We incorporate SEO in the planning stages of any new or upgrading web site. SEO will not detract from the visual or communication aspects, it should add to the quality. Any web site that doesn’t rank well in the primary subject matter (demonstrated by what we call keywords, terms, or information that the company has determined their target audience would search for) might as well be invisible.

There are many people who have had a web site designed that is visually attractive, has some basic product or services information, and unfortunately, is invisible to the major search engines. The problem is easily solved most times and it doesn’t detract from the design or look and feel of the web site.

Search engine optimization is a deep and bewildering subject to many. It’s very easy to get lost in the weeds and get so technical that most people get lost. But if you just adhere to some basic fundamentals, you can get some good results. It’s all about making it easy for the search engines to figure out exactly what your web site is about and displaying it in the appropriate search results. We will advise every customer what the best SEO set-up will be for them.

Even if you already have a web site up and running, there are small changes you can make to facilitate the search engines discovery. The search engines send out “bots” (software that visits your web site and catalogs the information) to scan your web site and determine the content. So it stands to reason that you should do whatever you can to make it easy for these bots to find what they need to properly index and rank you according to the information presented.

A good example of bad search engine optimization is to put your street address as an image rather than text. You see it all the time, a logo that lends itself to an image, has the street address right below it on the same image file. It looks nice, and actual visitors can see it plainly. But the search engine bots can’t see it. So if someone searches on location, you won’t show up since the search engines have no idea of where you are located.

Location may or may not be important to your business but you see the point. Images are good, but always make sure that you have critical information in a format that the search engines can see and index you under. It could be slogans, manufacturers your represent, headlines that describe your productor services, and etc.

By all means uses images where they add to the user experience, but always have the information available somewhere that the search engine can also see. Menus are another common area where images are often used but are invisible to the search engines. Menus that show the different pages and contents should be listed in some way that are also visible to the search engine bots.

The best time to make these types of choices is in the development stage of any new or revised web site. These are small and simple guidelines to apply through out your design. You can still have images, illustrations, or graphics of anything. Just make sure you also have the same information that is readable by the search engines.

And you should also do a little research on what terms might be searched on by your target audience. Just like in traditional marketing, determining how your prospect might search is important to determine what information you want to be listed under. Think of it like the yellow pages, what categories would you place your ad under? It’s the same principal, just a little different medium.

It’s just as easy to include search engine optimization basics into any web site design as not. Any visual design can be adapted to include elements that make it easy for the search engine to index and rank you according to the keywords or terms that are applicable to your business.

The search engines are looking at content, so make it easy to find the content that you want to be found by prospective customers. It’s great to have a nice looking web site and snazzy graphics. But if your intended audience can’t find you, it doesn’t matter how good your web site looks.

So SEO web site development should be your first step in any new or updating of a current web site. Do a little research to determine the best keywords or terms. Then make sure that your web site design incorporates these terms to attract your key prospects. It will make a big difference in the quality of your visitors and increase your web site traffic too.