Web Development
We start with ideas. Our client engagement begins with a thoughtful conversation about what you need done. And when the talking is over, we help you execute. Here’s what we do:
Strategy
Web 2.0 is all about conversation. We implement web-based platforms that connect people through enhanced interaction, collective content creation, and shared expertise. Whether a corporate blog or an online network, community, or wiki, it all falls under Web 2.0. RSS feeds, podcasts, wikis, blogs and social networks are some of the Web 2.0 techniques people are using, as these tools are extremely powerful ways to engage your customers, partners, suppliers, and employees. We help you sift through the options to select the techniques that best serve your goals. Our number one goal with the website development is to help you convert web traffic. Here are over 50 things that we can do for you to improve your conversion.
Website Analysis
We offer a consumer-centric analysis of your site’s design, content, and usability, and steps you can take to improve them.
It is very important that the technical aspects of your website are determined at the outset of the project. This involves determining:
- The hosting environment: What hosting environment best suits the technical requirements of the site? Linux (LAMP)? Windows IIS? .NET? If you prefer open-source Web products and services, Linux would be your best choice.
- Content Management System (CMS): Do you want a CMS so that you can manage your content updates internally, or do you want InfoTrust to do the ongoing website maintenance? The selection of a CMS will be largely determined by the hosting environment.
- Private site areas: Will you require a password-protected area for your website, and will each user have unique credentials or will there be one username/password for everyone? Will users be able to set up and manage accounts?
- Forms: Will there be information-gathering or other types of forms on the site, and how will the data from the forms be handled?
- Blogs: Will you want a blog or multiple blogs on your website, and how will they look and function? How will users be administered?
- Threaded discussion forums: Will you want a discussion forum, either for internal use or for users of your products or services? How will this function and how will it be administered?
- Social networking features: Do you wish to have features commonly associated with social networking sites, such as file sharing, user-generated content, ratings or voting, etc.
- E-commerce: Do you want the ability to take payments online via credit card payments, PayPal, Amazon, etc? How will this function?
- RSS feeds: Will you want users to be able to “subscribe” to your Web content via RSS?
Information Architecture & Site Map
Once the technical brief is developed, we work together to identify all the content to be present at the launch of the new website and the most effective way to present information to the end-user. Once the information architecture is developed, we develop a site map — a schematic representation of the website’s structure, indicating directories and files. For larger, more complex websites, we create a wireframe of your site, a design-free navigable site that allows you to test the viability of the structure. Revisions are made to the site map or wireframe until a final site architecture is agreed upon.
Integrating SEO into Your Website’s Structure
When determining the structure of the website, we take into account the keywords and key phrases that your company considers “high value” — terms that when searched will return your site on the Search Engine Results Page, hopefully on the first page. By determining your high-value keywords/phrases, InfoTrust can integrate these high-value keywords into your websites directory and file-naming. This approach can make a significant difference in your company’s keyword ranking with the search engines.
Standards
InfoTrust uses best practices when coding websites, utilizing Web Standards as developed by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), and ensuring that your website is easily and accurately indexed by search engines and that the levels of importance of the content is conveyed through semantic mark-up. This may sound a bit technical, but it’s a crucial detail in optimizing your website for the search engines.
Creative Design
Using the questionnaire as a starting point, we fine tune your design requirements. We ask you questions such as — what other websites do you like or dislike, and why? What sort of page layout do you prefer? Do you have an existing color palette for your brand or do you wish to have one created? The outcome of this process is a detailed set of requirements which is handed off to our designers who, guided by the brief, create the first round of designs for consideration. These designs are then revised through feedback from the client’s decision maker until designs are finalized.
Implementation & Testing
We now do the coding and programming for the site. Once the site is built, we upload the files to the test site and commence tests for useability, cross-platform issues, and functionality. Any problems or issues are identified and solutions determined.
Launch & Follow-up
Once all Quality Assurance issues are resolved, we put the site online at the specified URL. If you are going to be maintaining the site in-house, a client-side support team is identified and training conducted. The site is registered with the major search engines. Site performance is monitored closely.
Technologies and services
InfoTrust offers a full range of Web programming services. We have a skilled in-house team, as well as a small network of local developers for your more specialized programming needs. We offer expertise in the following:
- Google Analytics
- JavaScript and AJAX
- PHP / MySQL Programming
- Complete server side programming, database and Web services. Drupal, WordPress and XCart addons.
- HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML, RSS, REST, JSON – Our coding is done to Web Standards, as well as accessibility standards.
- MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle
- CMS and Service-oriented Architectures
- Salesforce, Drupal (including custom modules programming), WordPress, XCart.
