• Read more about How To Create A New Website: Part 2

In our last post on developing a new website, we went over some basic questions that your web and mobile development company should be asking before starting the process of your website redesign. Once those questions are answered your project manager has a better idea of your end goals and how you see the direction of the new site. So what’s next?

Identify:

Identify the key people who will be affected by the project. Start clarifying exactly who the project’s owner is. This may be an internal or external person of the client. Either way, it is essential to know who has the final say and what will be included in the project’s scope and what will not be included.

Once we establish who will be involved on the client side, we set up weekly meetings. During the meetings we set the agenda so that we are not wasting their time or ours. During the weekly meetings we review the ongoing project tasks and reprioritize items if necessary during this time.

Plan:

We start the process of creating a new website by scheduling a meeting with the web designers and developers. During this meeting we clearly communicate what the client expects and the end goals of the project, this makes it easier for us to decipher our weekly sprints. While keeping in mind user experience, visual design, and mobile first design we discuss action items such as mood board work sessions, style tiles, prototype application features, creating visual style guides, data visualization designs, and usability testing.

Build:

This is when we start building prototypes and mockups and establishing a basic application flow. During this process we are keeping constant communication with the client during the project life-cycle. Your website will not only be aligned with your business needs, but users will be able to find the information they need quickly and easily. We implement a responsive design at this point of the project cycle, this is vital because we are in the age of the mobile device, it is almost guaranteed that your website will be accessed from desktop, tablet, and smartphone. Your responsive site will provide the best user experience across devices – and it will be 508 compliant. Visit USA.gov or NASA.gov to see some of our work.

Risks:

Risk is the possibility of an event or condition that if it occurred, would have a negative impact on a project. After a project begins, events that are difficult to anticipate might create new risks. For example, unseasonably rainy weather might threaten the end date of a construction project. Planning for, identifying, and reducing risk at various times during a project can help you to keep the project on schedule and within budget.

• Read more about Reasons To Redesign Your Website

A website redesign can be a big project, although it can seem like a daunting process, it does have many advantages that will help your business. After all, redesigning your website is a powerful thing you can do for your company, this is often times the first way users communicate with your company, by following best practices and using a strategic approach you can help your brand garner ROI as well as brand visibility.

We recently redesigned our own website Mobomo.com, but before starting the process we needed to discuss our end goals, what did we want our new site to accomplish. Here are some of the reasons that we decided to do a redesign:

1. Improving functionality and usability: Although our last site provided functionality we wanted to take the design to the next level and by doing that it ultimately meant that our new website needed better functionality for users. Who doesn't want to drive more traffic to their website? We wanted to improve the user experience on our website and by this I mean we wanted our users to clearly be able to find what they were looking for with ease. If a user is not able to find something easily then more likely then not they will leave your site without thinking twice.
2. Better visuals: I think imagery is everything. If done correctly, it is easy to tell a story by the power of a picture. While in our beginning phases of the redesign project, we agreed that we wanted fresh, up-to-date visuals as well as colors to compliment the site. We felt that we could tell a more powerful story by using more visuals and guide the user through a story. Changing your visuals is a good way to stay up-to-date with the website trends as well as provide a different look to the site so it doesn't feel stale.
3. Rebranding: If your company has been going through a rebrand, it is important to keep your website up-to-date on the new change but I don’t just mean changing logos and colors, you will need to update the content on your site as well so that it is consistent in the branding process. We wanted fresh, new content;  it's always nice to do a pulse check on the content living on your website- is it old? Outdated? Is the user finding the content helpful to their end needs? You can still use the meat of the old content but spice it up and change the wording to ensure that it doesn't go stale.
4. Mobile friendly: We were mobile friendly before however we wanted to make sure our redesign was easy to use on the mobile platform. Mobile has grown significantly over the past few years, so much so that mobile searches have surpassed desktop searches. I think I can speak to everyone here, we all need to do more than just keep up with the times, we need to be ready to make those changes to accommodate users no matter the platform they choose to use. Its important to make sure your website can be viewed on a wide variety of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. By incorporating a responsive web design, you’ll be assured of reaching a larger audience than you would with a website that’s not mobile-friendly. 

Conducting a redesign on your company website can be challenging, even though we felt like we were checking the boxes on our old design and felt that user experience was high, it felt outdated and it needed a makeover. The important aspect in redesign is taking the things that you were doing well on your old site and make them even better. You can always learn about what you did wrong in a redesign but what about what you did right?

• Read more about Content Management Systems: Wordpress or Drupal?

A content management system, or CMS, is a web application designed to make it easy for non-technical users to add, edit and manage a website. We use Wordpress and Drupal the most for CMS development, but it is all dependent on our clients' needs. Not only do content management systems help website users with content editing, they also take care of a lot of behind the scenes work.

Whenever it comes to developing a website from scratch, and for a client who wants to be able to manage the site after the launch it is important as a developer to find a tool that the client will be able to use. When we think about web development it’s always better for the client and for the company to find a good content management system or CMS, because it solves problems that you will never have to worry about from the UI of the backend to the front-end wanted features it solves a lot of issues upfront that you will not have to worry about later.  As a website evolves, it will never stay in the final version you delivered to your client, when we develop we need to always think to the site’s future.

Wordpress is one of the most popular tools because it is very adaptable. The amount of plugins (solutions to your problems) are endless. Not only does it have great features but it has a friendly UI backend. All of the advantages mentioned lower the development time, which helps the client to lower their costs. In short, Wordpress saves time and money! The most recent example is our very own website Mobomo.

Another resource for a CMS is Drupal. Drupal may be a little more difficult to develop with because it can handle bigger sites with much more data and a ton of users but this system is better for newspapers or government sites such as NASA. 

Each CMS will have their own advantages but our first priority is making it adaptable to the client’s needs.

• Read more about Simple Doesn't Always Mean Easy

Recently my friend and I were talking about different digital products and their functionality compared to their appearances. I was trying to make the argument that simple equaled easy, that an application with less complexities was easier to use compared to one that was very complex. My friend was rather quick to stop me in my tracks, he was making the case that that isn’t necessarily true, he started his argument by comparing two everyday products, a bicycle and a car.

A bike is extremely simple in its appearance, there are really only 4 components that make it up:
- Frame
- Handlebars
- Two tires
- Chain

That’s really the foundation for any bike, nothing less.

To contrast that though a car has hundreds of moving parts:
- Complex motor
- Exhaust system
- Electrical components
- And dozens of other parts that allow it to run

However when you compare the two to see which is easier to use, in this case let’s say that “using” it means movement; a car with all its complexities has a much lower learning curve than a bike. Really all you need to do to drive a car is sit down, press a pedal, and turn the wheel.

In comparison to riding a bike, an extremely simple system compared to that of a car, the learning curve is much steeper. Why? Mainly because it relies on the user to have an already working knowledge of how to use it…balance. Without learning how to balance yourself on a bicycle you won’t get any further than a few feet. Once you learn to balance than you need to pedal in order to keep the system going, otherwise everything comes to a stop. Lastly combined with balancing, and pedaling, you need to steer the bike, all in tandem with each other. All relying on you, the user, to make the whole thing work.

What does any of this have to do with digital products, websites, applications? In short what my friend was saying is don’t make an interface overly simplified and expect your users to know how to work with it. Sometimes an icon, with its simple form, is harder to “use” than a more complex interface. Just because it has less “parts” for it to work doesn't mean that it is easier for the user.

• Read more about CSS Architecture: A Recommended Strategy To Put Into Practice

Tired of being terrified that one CSS change will cause a ripple effect of bugs across your site? How about trying to make a simple change only to learn that the previous developer nested the styles five layers deep and slapped an !important on it? Learn how you can help bring sane and scalable CSS architecture to your projects and organization.

[pdfviewer width="100%" height="849px" beta="true/false"]https://mobomo.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2016/05/CSS-The-Specificity-Wars-1.pdf[/pdfviewer]

• Read more about Part 1: How To Create A New Website

Creating a new website isn’t always as simple as snapping your fingers. You can create a basic website that will give you basic results; however, there are many questions to answer if you hope to optimize its performance. In this series, we'll discuss how to create a new website.

As a project manager it is important that you are asking important questions before you start designing a website. It’s vital to ask questions around the client's goals, internal philosophy and how they envision their end product. Bottom line, you want to know as much about what their business and their end goals before you even start thinking about design.

Below are sample questions along with a few explanations that I ask a client before starting the project:

A website designed to appeal to 30-something professionals is going to be different than one aimed at young newlyweds or retirees. It’s important that you have a good grasp on who your client’s customers are. It affects not only the look and feel of the site, but may also affect usability and accessibility issues

Finding out a client's budget before the project begins is vital, what if their budget does not match what you designed? You have not only wasted time but money is the most important.

It is important to let the client know that a website or an application is a process and not only a project. Will be necessary to put significative budget for maintenance phase in order to keep the project constantly updated.

The project will be complete once it becomes live. Preparing a site for going live is a combination of choices made before the project starts. It is important to focus on tracking performance, using an according methodology and prioritize items.

It is a good practice to know what the client will want to do in the future with their site in order we can make allowances in the design and coding now. This practice allows us to think in advance to avoid a possible site rebuild from scratch.

This is important because you want a client to be able to track their success after the launch of the site.

These are just suggestions, but if your web development company did not ask you some of these questions, you should probably follow up to make sure they have the right vision for your company.

• Read more about Style Guides: What They Consist Of, The Benefits, And How To Get Started

One of our talented designers recently spoke at an event hosted by Drupal 4 Gov covering everything you need to know about style guides. Check out his presentation below as well as our Drupal page.

[slideshare id=61191203&doc=drupal4govstyleguides-160421124819]

• Read more about Part 1: Top Questions to Ask Website and Mobile App Developers

Ever heard of the expression you get what you pay for? I think we all have, right? Sure sometimes when you invest in something you have a great experience but sometimes... You don't. And we can't help but think about that experience when you paid for something and it didn't turn out to be what you thought it would. The same goes true in the tech industry, and if you aren't careful you may not ask the right questions in the contract process which could lead you down a shaky path resulting in a negative experience. In order to avoid this mistake all together it is important to ask your potential website or app developer the right questions before you sign the dotted line.

Here are a few questions to get you started when you're hiring a web or mobile application development company. And remember, if you aren't getting the loaded answers you are wanting to hear, then you should probably keep looking for another company that may better fit your needs. 

What does your company portfolio look like, or who have you worked with in the past? Can you give describe some of the products your company has created in the past? 

The WHO is always important to ask. If a company can't tell you who they have worked with in the past, RUN! Once you have an understanding of their past clients you can do a little homework on your own.

We have worked with a wide array of clients ranging from the government, consumer and startup companies launching hundreds of products over the past few years. We value our experience working with clients in all sectors as well as the opportunity to take on a new challenge. Head over to our portfolio to see our web & app development work.

How do you communicate with your clients?

Communication is very important in all aspects of life but in our case it is vital to have solid communication when a client is working with their project manager. Once a new client comes on board they talk through their needs and based off their needs we decide which tool is best to use to maintain fluid and consistent communication. We are very flexible with communication tools, if one client wants to use something other than what we suggest- we are all ears! We love trying new things. A few tools that we use the most are Confluence and Basecamp.

Confluence:

• You have full visibility as to what's going on in a project from beginning to end
• It is a place where you can save all steps of project as well as any notes 
• Has a lot of broad features which can help clients achieve any goal
• Allows you to create reports, pages, spaces and more

Basecamp:

• Very lean UI, very simple to use and it is very self explanatory 
• Helps you keep track of files and messages between you and your project manager
• Mainly used for document management, note filing etc.

There are always disadvantages to any tool you use for communicating but these are just a few of our favorites. Which tool do you like to use?

• Read more about On-Page SEO Guide

We know that your website content is great and valuable but what use is that content if no one can find it? We have created this on-page SEO guide to ensure your newly published content is well optimized and visible in organic search listings.

1. Keywords

Before we begin writing our content, we’ll want to determine a keyword focus for the copy. A great tool to help determine a keyword strategy is Google’s Keyword Planner. It provides data such as your monthly search volume as well as visibility into your competition. You can stay as broad as you would like with your search or you could narrow your search to include specific regions, cities, even languages.

2. Copy

After we’ve established a priority keyword to target, we’ll want to weave it into the copy. It’s important to remember here that keywords should only be placed in the copy when it’s natural. Don’t stuff the page with keywords! It is important to write for the user first and search engines second.

There is not a magic number of times a keyword should be placed in a page but generally, it’s best to place it in the title or in an <h1> or <h2> tag. If it makes sense to put it in another place, great! But don’t go overboard.

3. Images

Because we know you’re up to date on web design best practices, we know you’ll have beautiful images thoughtfully displayed throughout the page. These images can be optimized, too.

There are three key considerations when optimizing an image: size, title, and alt text.

4. URL

Your new page or post is going to need a URL. There is a lot to consider here, but here are a few best practices:

”Awesome Blog Post” - /blog/awesome-blog-post/

5.  Cross Linking

Cross linking is a great way to increase user engagement and a search engine’s overall understanding of your website. Does your new page or post mention:

If so, link to them! Continuously serving up relevant content to the user is a great way to keep them engaged in the website. In fact, you might like this post on SEO for single page applications.

6. MetaData

Metadata is data that helps to describe other data- simple right? Well metadata also helps search engines understand what a specific page is about, it is a piece of the SEO process.

If you follow these basic guidelines then you can sit back and watch the traffic roll in!

• Read more about You Are What You Link

You often hear the term, “you are what you eat” - It’s cliche, yet an accurate statement. The principle ideology for this term is that your overall health is determined by your eating habits. In simpler words, the better you eat, the better you feel. This same concept can be said to be true in the sphere of online marketing. Bottom line, the richer the content you use on your platforms, the healthier your brand is but the only draw back: you must know your audience in order to capture what content they are specifically looking for.

Let’s pretend websites, online marketing channels and social media platforms are your “body”, and the content that you put online is the “food”. What am I talking about? Your brand! Each platform serves a similar purpose; to connect and convey a message. The value of strong, unique and consistent content is a must. If you mock others, choose content that doesn’t reflect your brand, or don’t care much in devising and developing a well put together platform… well, it’s like you just ate 4 Big Macs, 13 Kit-Kats and a dozen donuts. It's unhealthy to eat those things right? Well it's just as unhealthy to have a lack of knowledge about your audience and the content you are posting.

Buzzwords can get thrown around such as “digital branding” and “digital footprint”, few understand what these mean, and fewer know the value. I’m here to explain the importance of why your digital brand must be taken care of so that your brand succeeds online.

Vanilla or Voluptuous?

Some people like cookie cutter online techniques, websites and social profiles. Others just want to stand out. In order to produce the results you want, you must understand your brand and your audience. It is imperative to recognize that the process of developing a brand is a much larger, and can often seem like an on-going task that is never-ending. It stretches beyond social media, web development or even dumping money into Pay Per Click ads, you must DIG!

Having a website, marketing strategy, and social media channels is a great start but it's just the beginning. I have a few simple guidelines: You must be passionate about your brand, you must have clear goals that link back to your company, you must understand who your target market and audience is. After these steps are completed you can then create a strategy across your different platforms to best plan how you want to convey your message. Having rich content can influence your brand as well as your reputation, remember, branding gives meaning to why we do what we do.

Data is everything

Any follower, friend, foe, potential date, or client will want to know everything about you before they meet you. Where do they start? Google of course. And for some, Bing. Whichever search channel they choose to use, they will more than likely find you (hopefully). So what does your company portray? Are you really great at what you do? Why? Does your presence showcase this? These are just a few of many questions you need to internally ask yourself in order to develop a marketing strategy that works for your brand. Do not create content just because you think it might work…

It’s not a race, or a marathon… It’s a lifelong commitment.

If you have a unique combination of experiences, and characteristics that create the foundation for determining your niche you are on the right path for success. To be successful in the digital space, it behooves you to choose an area of expertise that you can engage with overtime. Over the course of your business and life you become more intimate with your work and the world around you. The process of branding is always evolving and fluid, so you must be proactive versus reactive to your brand presence. I suggest consistently connecting with the world around you.

Now the question is how will you make your mark? How will you serve your audience? How will you stand out? Have you asked your peers for feedback on your digital presence? Make your impact today.