WEBSITE CREATION PROCESS Skylark is a Toronto Web Design Studio known and respected for its professional approach and elegant, exquisite and affordable web design that provides the best business value for our clients. E: team@sklylark-studio.com T: 647 780.7897
PREREQUISITES FOR CREATING A WEBSITE Regardless which company you choose to develop your website, you need to purchase a domain name and a hosting. They become your property and you have full control over them. 1. HOSTING HOSTING 2. DOMAIN NAME DOMAIN NAME Hosting is a place where your website files are located. Imagine a huge building filled with server racks that s basically what hosting is. When you buy a hosting, you simply rent a space on one of those servers. You may rent the whole server if your budget allows it. Your hosting is connected to the internet so all the people out there who are eager to view your website can connect to it. 1. If you already have a hosting, we can create your website there. 2. If you need a hosting we have our own, please feel free to use it. You can even test-drive it for free for 1 month. 3. If you want us to recommend another hosting platform we would gladly do that. A domain name is your unique address on the internet that users type in the browser. It contains the name you choose and the domain extension. There are lots of extensions you can choose from -.com is the most popular one. Country-specific extensions are also available, such as.ca,.us,.es,.fr, and so on. Since domain names are purchased regularly, there is no guarantee the exact domain name you want will be available. We can help you find the best fit, since we have lots of experience helping clients. If you want to choose the name yourself, we advise you to use KISSS principle: Keep It Short, Sweet, Simple. 2
Next step: Let s Create Your Website Website creation workflow is a simple process to grasp. There are 4 steps to follow in order to create a website: STEP 1 INFORMATION GATHERING We ask questions about goals you want to achieve and listen to any other input that you are willing to provide. We share our expertise and provide some advice in order to make your site top-notch. The question usually asked is how much will it cost to create a website? In order to give you a precise answer, we need to get some answers you the list of the questions we usually ask is located to the right. They may differ depending on your requirements, but it will give you an idea what information gathering usually involves. Depending on the scope, we can throw in some free stuff, like Gravity Forms integration, but it really depends on how complicated the project is. Questions we may ask Do you need the ability to manage your own content? Do you need to create your company logo (or do you have one)? Do you need the ability to sell items online? Do you need to display your site in multiple languages? Do you have specific design requirements? Do you need a company blog? Do you need SEO optimization? STEP 2 WEBSITE DESIGN We present you with the options (mentioned in the table to the right) and discuss the pros and cons of every option. All options are good and can achieve excellent results, but differ in budget requirements. We pride ourselves on having a team of individuals that have enormous professional expertise. Most importantly, we have great taste to create a visually attractive, creative and elegant web design. Design Options Content Management System (CMS) with customized templates, usually WordPress. Unique Design with custom coding. Unique Design integrated with CMS. 3
STEP 3 WEBSITE INPLEMENTATION We start working on a website and place the site being developed in maintenance mode, so others won t be able to see it until it is ready and approved by you. Actual Development When the homepage is ready, we open the website only for you with a specific username and password. After that you can track further website development and test website features when they become available. Frequent updates are sent to you during the development process so you can track the progress and provide your input. Actual website development that includes pages development, branding and coding. Additional configuration, such as SEO, multilingual configuration and enabling visitor statistics (if included in the project) Blog setup Website security configuration (if included in the project) Company e-mail and contact form setup. STEP 4 COMPLETION AND FINAL REVIEW Once the website is fully ready, we get to the Final review stage. At this point, we double and triple-check that everything is working properly and move the website to production mode, where it is accessible for everybody on the internet. We also provide free educational sessions if clients choose to manage website content themselves. (Included with WordPress CMS websites) Final Steps Final tests are performed with the client to make sure everything works as expected. At this stage, we hand over all the credentials to the website management (if the client has requested it) We explain what would be involved in further maintenance if the client decides to delegate site maintenance to us. 4
Congratulations, your site is ready! What s next? Websites are no different from the computers their software has to be maintained, their security should be taken care of, and you should have a backup strategy in order to be able to restore it. You wouldn t want to run your computer without an antivirus, even though you can get away with it. The same logic applies to your site. * Please note, this is absolutely your choice whether to use our services past this stage, but it is a due diligence process for us to let you know about the proper way of maintaining your website. Website security Website maintenance Everything gets hacked, unfortunately. Statistics say every 0.6 seconds some site gets hacked on the internet. The consequences of being infected are not pleasant - your hosting company may simply suspend your site under some conditions. Infection can slow down your site significantly. Your site may get blacklisted as a spam bot and your business mail will be affected, not to mention the loss of business reputation in the eyes of your clients. We offer solutions to remedy and mitigate security risks. Please ask us about your options. Any website or code is software that has to be maintained. There are serious risks involved in not maintaining your site properly, but some people get lucky with not doing it and nothing happens. Below is the description of what should be done ideally. 1. Core updates. 2. Website Component Security updates. 3. Plugin and theme updates. Please ask us about your options. Website backup Content updates / Changes As was said above, everything gets hacked unfortunately. God forbid, if this happens to your site and you don t have backup, you ll have to create your site from scratch. That means you will have to pay for the whole development process again. Please check with us regarding your options. We have lots of expertise in this field and can present you with various solutions that can make your life much easier. You always have the option to manage your website content. In some cases however, it goes beyond simply providing new text. Pictures should be chosen carefully to match your style; new pages should be crafted carefully in order to be on the same level as the original design. Some people don t have time to manage the content; some would like to maintain appropriate design standards. We can definitely manage it for you. 5
Conclusion At this point you have all the information you need to get acquainted with the website creation process and postproduction steps. Should you have any questions or concerns whatsoever, please don t hesitate to send us an email to team@skylark-studio.com or simply give us a call at 647 780.7897. Below you can find some additional information about the prices for typical projects and our maintenance fees. Please don t forget that besides pure professional qualities that our team possesses, we are also extremely approachable when it comes to dealing with our clients, we know how to listen and we love what we do. Thank you. Skylark Team. Additional Information: At this point you have all the information you need to get aquainted with the website creation process and post-production steps. Shold you have any questions whatsoever or concerns, please don t hesitate to send us an e-mail at team@skylark-studio.com or simply give us a call at 647 780.7897 Below you can find some additional information about the prices for typical projects and our maintenance fees. Please don t forget that besides pure professional qualities that our team possesses we are also extremely friendly when it comes to dealing with our clients, we know how to listen and we love what we do. * Please note that every project is different and sometimes people require a combination of modules from different plans. For example, you may want to request the Basic site, but with Advanced User statistics, multilingual support and online payment integration. In this case the quote should be adjusted in order to reflect new requirements. Should you have any questions or concerns whatsoever, please don t hesitate to send us an email at team@skylark-studio.com or simply give us a call at 647 780.7897. Thank you. Skylark Team. 6
Typical Website Pricing Structure Basic $ 550 Compete $ 750 Online ecommerce $ 900 3 months FREE Hosting FREE quality images 3-6 Pages Easy Content Management Simple Site Statistics Text company logo Social Media Integration Unlimited email addresses Contact Form Company Blog Free 2 hours of educational sessions Responsive Mobile design 4 months FREE Hosting FREE quality images 7-15 Pages Easy Content Management Advanced Site Statistics Basic company logo Advanced Social Media Integration Unlimited email addresses Contact Form Company Blog Basic Online payment solution 404 Page design $30 discount for Google Apps integration Interactive maps Free 3 hours of educational sessions Responsive Mobile design 5 months FREE Hosting FREE quality images 20 Product Pages Online Store Management Solutions Advanced Site Statistics Basic company logo Advanced Social Media Integration Unlimited email addresses Advanced Contact Forms with Online Payment Integration Company Blog Advanced Online Shop. Online Payment Solutions Integration. 404 Page design 1 Free Year of Google Apps Interactive maps Free 4 hours of educational sessions Responsive Mobile design 7
Website Maintenance Pricing Structure Website Antivirus & Security Maintenance Plan $90 per year. Includes: Malware and Virus Detection and Protection Malware and Virus Cleanup in case of infection or hacking incident Website Blacklist Repair (Google blacklist removal) Website Maintenance and Core Updates $120 per year. Includes: Website Core Updates Website Security additional modules updates Plugin and theme updates Website Content Updates $300 a year. (* Price varies and depends on the volume of changes/updates). Includes: Website content changes (new pages, existing pages, minor adjustments, such as providing new telephone numbers, adjusting addresses, changing Google maps, etc) Not included: New design or redesign of the pages. Website Backup $90 the first year, $60 per year after that. Includes: Data Backup/Restoration, including individual Files Database Backup/Restoration * Not included: If you need us to do the restoration (not the company that performs backup), then we will have to charge for the work. 8
Client Testimonials Perry Lo CEO, Canaan Transport Group www.canaantransport.com With our headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, we are well positioned to handle all transport needs to and from Asia, Europe, the USA, and other global locations. We hired Skylark Studio based on the recommendation of our business partner and we're pleased to acknowledge that the outcome exceeded our expectations. Efim and Ninel Pupko Business owners Ivritours www.ivritours.com We requested development of an elegant website that would differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Besides the elegant design, we needed complicated online taxi order forms that would take into account not only the distance, but the time of day as well. We really appreciate the work and effort that Skylark Studio invested in this project. Thanks a lot! " Tina Verano Business owner Serenity Yoga Studio www.sfyogastudio.com It is pretty difficult to find real professionals and it is much more difficult to find somebody who possesses a great taste in addition to technical skills. If you add on top great response time and creativity, you get a company you definitely would like to keep working with. Thanks guys, looking forward to future projects! " 9
George and Alina Ross Business owners Miller House Group www.drevodesigns.com DrevoDesigns is a family business that creates luxuriant, high-grade household wood wall decorations, which are not only exclusive, but one of a kind. One-of-a-kind merchandise should have a one-of-a-kind online store and we are really grateful we turned to Skylark Studio to create a website for us. Keep up the good work! Olesia Kvitko Business owner Kvitkova Kava Online Shop www.kvitkovakava.com.ua Kvitkova Kava is an online shop that specializes in selling rare coffee blends and handmade art. We requested an elegant site with a contemporary look in order to stay on top of our competition. Skylark Studio proved to be an excellent partner with a lot of creative ideas and professional attitude. Thank you guys, it was a pleasant journey for us! 10