Our approach to web development projects

Most businesses or organisations when considering the development of a new website tend to start off by approaching web designers more with a view as to how they expect it to look, rather than how they expect it to work, or indeed how their customer expect it to work.

The web designer then has the sometimes unenviable task of translating the client’s ideas into something that functions properly and meets their visual expectations.

Unfortunately this approach often fails to deliver the desired results, as all too often a key aspect of the project design is either overlooked or compromised - that of search engine performance. Our approach is somewhat different in that it places search engine visibility at the heart of the development process to ensure that not only does the site look and work right, but that it can also be found from the search engines.

There is one major difference between the internet and virtually any other form of advertising. This is that the internet is a reactive medium. Conventional promotional media, whether it be press, PR, poster, direct mail, radio, or TV, all utilise a proactive mechanism whereby the message or brand is “pushed” at the target audience, whereas a website, in the vast majority of cases, is only seen when a potential customer is actively seeking a product or service.

To fully understand the importance of this difference one needs to consider these statistics:

• 85% of web site traffic is driven by search engines
• 55% of searchers don’t go beyond the first page of search results
• 85% don’t go beyond page 3
• 52% don’t go back from the first site they find

These statistics highlight the critical importance of making site promotion and search engine strategy an integral part of site development. All too often this requirement is not properly understood by either the business or organisation commissioning the site, or the web developer, whose core skills are usually focussed around the design and technical implementation of the site.

Our marketing based approach

At DVisions one of our main specialisations is in search engine marketing, and this means we take a rather different approach when being consulted on a web development project.

The primary difference lies in that we take a marketing orientated view of the project as a whole, first placing it in a strategic context, then approaching the practicalities of the design from a promotional and search engine perspective. This places promotion and search engine optimisation at centre stage of the design process.

Essentially our approach is to break the development project down into three broad phases, of which the most important is the primary planning stage which defines the entire scope of the project:

Phase 1 – Planning and Specification

This involves setting the overall parameters for the project, and our approach to this is to work with you to assess the business need for the project and draw up a business plan for the project. Areas typically covered in this process could include:

• Evaluation of the strategic business need
• Identifying benefits for site owners and site users
• Feasibility studies
• Objective setting
• Consideration of levels of integration with client’s existing systems
• Budgetary assessment
• Quantitative analysis of online target audiences
• Visitor projections, revenue and profit modelling
• Return on investment (ROI) and cost benefit assessments
• Positioning within the existing marketing mix
• Search term analysis and optimised site structure design
• Planning and budgeting of ongoing promotional requirements
• Preparation of technical specification and design brief

Phase 2 – Design and Build

Our primary role during this phase will be to build your new web site in-house, or it Our role will vary to a degree depending upon the nature of the project.

Over the build process we will ensure that the site is developed to meet the requirements of the project plan, ensuring that all technical issues are resolved within its parameters.

If the project is to be "out-of-house" our role may be to project manage the site design and build process. We are happy to work with your own nominated designers or web developers, or we can source the most suitable designers and developers with skills matching the requirements of the design specification. Our focus here is to always use the right skills for the job.

The chief benefits to you of our involvement as either web develpers or project managers through this phase lie in our knowledge and experience in delivering the functionality that is required within the project.

The process of managing a web development project can be exceptionally time-consuming, and all too often you will be asked to make decisions on issues you do not fully understand, potentially leading to problems later on.

We lift these burdens off your shoulders, and with our experience will make sure the project meets the business needs set out in the plan.

Phase 3 – Promotion

Once your new web site is launched we will handle the promotional needs for the new site, implementing the promotional plans set out in the business plan. These may include:

• Page and site optimisation
• Principal search engine and directory submissions
• Ongoing search engine optimisation (SEO) and reporting
• Pay per click advertising management
• Link building programmes
• Online media placement
• Affiliate marketing programmes
• E-Pr and E-Newsletters

The aim is that at the end of this process, you will have a website that is meeting its strategic targets and that is a working business asset rather than a patch of wasted cyberspace!