The Website Design Process - Dynamic Sites

At Pro Epic we use a structured approach to website development. The process consists of six phases.

1. Concept Phase
2. Planning Phase
3. Development Phase
4. Testing Phase
5. Rollout Phase
6. Maintenance Phase

Concept Phase

The concept phase will fulfill three main goals.

• The first goal is for us to understand your vision for your website. We come to understand what you want to achieve with the website, and your preferences in the look and feel of the website.
• Our second goal is to present the development process to you so that you can understand you role in it. This will enable you to take an active part during the entire process.
• Our third goal is to create an inventory of items to include in the website.

The first item to be selected will be a template for the website. The template establishes the look and feel of the site and provides a framework in which to place all the other items. We will recommend one or more templates based upon color, style, and functionality. You will make the final template selection.

Content items are documents that describe your products and services. They are the most important components in the website inventory because the search engines will link to your site based on content. Content items may include articles, testimonials, product or service information, or other documents.

With your help, we will also create an inventory of images to be used on the website. The images may be photos, drawings, logos or other graphics.

An inventory will be created of applications to be used in the website. Applications may be as simple as a contact form, or as complex as an online store using an e-commerce solution.

A specification will be developed, based upon your preferences. The specification is a detailed list of the template chosen, and the inventories of items to be used in your website. It also includes any requirements that you have provided. The specification will serve as a blueprint to be used during the planning and development phases.

Planning Phase

A project plan will be developed during the planning phase. It is during this phase that we develop the menu structure for the site and decide upon the placement of the various site components.

Once the plans have been approved, a date will be set to begin development on your website.

Development Phase

The development phase is when your website begins to take shape. We begin by registering a domain name and setting up the hosting account. We will set up e-mail accounts for all the users and create accounts for FTP access. Economy and Deluxe websites will be developed directly on the live hosting account. Premium and custom websites will be developed on our development server, and once approved, will be migrated to the live hosting account. During the development phase the content items, images, and applications will be installed and configured.

Testing Phase

Once the development work has been completed, the testing phase will begin. All the menu items and links will be checked for functionality. Content items will be checked for formatting, spelling, or grammatical errors. Images will be checked for proper size and placement. Applications will be checked for proper functionality. Once our testing is complete, we invite you to test drive your new website. We move on to the rollout phase only with your approval.

Rollout Phase

In the rollout phase, Premium and custom websites will be migrated to the production servers. At that point, we will conduct another round of testing and make any needed adjustments. Clients who have purchased Deluxe, Premium, or Custom websites will receive administrative and user training. You will be given a full set of documentation for your site. A site map will be submitted to the Google and Yahoo search engines. A Google Analytics account will be created for the website. When all of the tasks have been completed to your satisfaction, the website is considered live and the rollout phase is complete.

Maintenance Phase

The maintenance phase is ongoing, according to the maintenance plan that you select. You have the options of maintaining the site yourself, contracting with Pro Epic to do that for you, or a combination of the two. All of our maintenance plans include disaster recovery plans. We perform a daily database backup and backup all program files and images on a regular basis. We do not back up music or video files. The frequency of the final backup and the length of retention of the backup files are specified in your maintenance plan.