Strategy-led Web Design & Development

You know it! I believe in empowering you with knowledge and information so you can easily make edits on your own once your project is complete.  The Quality Assurance period also provides extra support as you're learning your way around.

Additionally, your Website Owners Manual will answer questions, provide instructions, and let you know how to get extra help should you need it.

You'll never be ghosted or left high and dry, I'll be around to provide as much or as little help as you like. If enrolling in ongoing support with a Care, Maintenance, & Hosting Plan, you'll also have the benefit of even more support along with discounts for other projects.

I love this question! I'll be able to help you decide after we have an initial chat about your needs.

Whichever option you select, you'll find that each Next Level package is designed to deliver a premium, strategic website to fit YOUR individual needs which I'll learn all about during a Discovery Chat.

During our consultation, I'll discover and uncover pain points and wishes and provide creative solutions to meet your needs. I can customize as needed to make sure it works for your business plan, time commitment, and more. 

Great question! Strategic and purposeful design in the simplest terms means your website is more than just "pretty", it has brains too!

When you design with a strategy in mind, you are really drilling down to your purpose and what you're trying to accomplish.

A few things that go into a strategic design are (more details in this post):

• Client journey (the experience you want your potential client to have).
• Brand alignment and aesthetics to increase connection and clarity.
• Purpose and goals: Are you trying to book consults, sell things, build your mailing list, increase dog adoptions, provide info to people prior to coming into your office, etc. And...just to make it even more interesting, the purpose on one page could be different from another page.
• Smart SEO using connective and optimal language.
• Thoughtful consideration of processes, future plans, and more.

Strategic design is one thing that helps to separate you from your competition. Book a chat to get rolling.

Building a strategic website (your online home) can be compared to building an actual custom home (the kind you live in). Meaning, there are lots of variables that come into play. So, it depends on your needs, wants, functionality requirements, and other determining factors.

These are the things that we'll uncover during a Discovery Chat. Once we have our consult, I'll be able to provide you with a proposal containing different options to choose from. You'll be able to choose the package that best suits the time commitment you can make, your budget, and other needs you may have.

To secure your date on my development calendar, a deposit of 1/3 of your chosen package amount is required upfront. You'll be able to choose from different options for the remaining payments at the time you accept your proposal, all of which will be outlined in your contract that you'll sign prior to purchasing.

There are several costs associated with a website that you are responsible for. During your project, I'll provide you with trusted, highly-rated, and reliable sources for the services you need if don't already have them squared away. 

These, if not included with your project, are:

• Domain Name (your URL)
• Email Hosting (if you want professional email addresses)
• Website Hosting: Unless you enroll in the Care & Maintenance Plan (where hosting is included). Hosting is something don't want to skimp on, this is one of those "You get what you pay for." services.
• SSL Certificate: If not enrolled in the Care & Maintenance Plan (an SSL is included with this service), your web host may charge a fee. If configuration of an SSL requires a significant amount of time, there will be an additional fee to install and set up.
• Outside services or sub-contractors for specialized services. For things like your email marketing service, e-commerce, project management, course or membership software, special plugins, other specialized software, advanced SEO, SMTP configuration, etc. 
• Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms and Conditions: Generation of must-have legal policies is paid directly to your chosen service (legal agreement policy generator). I'll provide you with trusted recommendations or, you may choose to have your attorney write your policies.
• Continued ongoing care and support: Your chosen package will detail the amount of support and ongoing care you'll have during and after your project. Once your included support timeline is complete, you'll be able to continue with website maintenance, support, and hosting with one of these plans.
• Licenses for software: The use of my developer licenses for products used on your website is included after launch for the specified amount of time described in your chosen package and website contract. However, if you enroll in a Care, Maintenance + Hosting Plan, these annual license fees are waived as long as you continue with that service. Any premium software you need where I do not hold the licenses, you will purchase.
• Services for GDPR, accessibility, or other regulatory or necessary compliance: I'll provide you with trusted recommendations for some of these services and/or experts during our project and will assist in some basic compliance practices and implementation. To ensure you and your business are covered in these areas, you should consult an attorney or other expert versed in these specialized services. 
• Possible site migration: If you do not include a care plan with your project, there may be an approximate fee of $250 for the migration of your completed website over to your web host (to make it live on your hosting), set up the SSL, and make sure all is working properly.

SEO (search engine optimization) is an ongoing strategy and there are literally hundreds of factors that determine your position or rank in search engines.

Things like:

• Who is searching - Google and other search engines are smart enough to know what you typically search for, and why, when, where... Because of this, if I search for homemade tortillas and you search for the same thing, we'll get different results.
• Relevant content - Is your content helpful, current, etc.?
• Optimization of images (sizes and alt tags), page titles, meta descriptions, and more.
• Domain name, age, and authority.
• Quality products and services (theme, plugins, integrations, SSL, web host). Yes, I bolded that on purpose.
• And, possibly more.

I set you up for success using premium tools and services along with using SEO best practices. I'll also provide you with key information to trusted SEO experts if you want to dig into your analytics, competition, and other details, along with, if you like, social media experts to help you promote and advertise.

It's up to you what you do, how you use it, and share it (and how often) because your website is a living part of your business. Just like software updates are necessary to keep it working (like oil changes for your car), your site content, strategies, and possibly other things should be updated as things in your business or information evolve. 

Project timelines depend on different things: your chosen package, what types of functionality will you need, if you add additional options, how quickly you respond, provide feedback, and submit details.

Your timeline will also depend on if your project includes custom web design, brand/logo design, professional copywriting, and advanced SEO services.

This is why strategic website projects need a smart plan and the Next Level Website Experience makes the journey to a new website a breeze with a process that makes it easy to stay organized and keep everything on track. And the best part? You don't have to worry about any of it because I'll let you know exactly what needs to happen and when, and will handle all of the tech. This means no stress or overwhelm for you. 🙌

Typically, (and if included with your project) custom branding takes between 2 to 6 weeks from inception to delivery; copy and advanced SEO can begin during this time (if included as well). Once construction of your website begins, most projects take from 4 to 12+ weeks depending on size of site, functionality needed like ecommerce, etc., The Essential Package is typically 2 to 3 weeks.

Feel free to schedule a free consultation where we can discuss your needs and timeline requirements. 

Most of your hard work takes place after signing your agreement and the official project start date. After you go through onboarding (which is as easy as 1, 2, 3), we'll schedule a call to kick things off.

This call happens before the project start date and it's where we'll go over everything together, review any forms or content templates you'll use to provide important information I'll need (like access to accounts, etc.), making it easy to do, understand, and take care of.

That way, once your project start date rolls around, all is ready to go! 

Anything you can do now will make things easier later:

• Gather images together that you want to use.
• Get those headshots you've been putting off.
• Look at your copy for things that should be edited.
• Make sure descriptions and images for services or products are up to date.

Along with the things above, all I ask is that:

• You meet all deadlines for any content or information I ask for, to make sure your project launches when expected and goes smoothly.
• Your attendance for all scheduled meetings.
• Your full commitment and participation in your project.
• You provide quality images (high-res and professional) and have the rights to use them. You will have access to my stock photo account if you need help finding appropriate images.
• A smile! 

The big thing to remember is don't worry or stress, I'm an expert in this stuff. I know what's needed and will ask the right questions to help you think of things you may not have thought about. We're a team and I'll walk you through every step. 

Absolutely! Keeping your website safe, functioning properly, and healthy is my favorite soapbox topic!

It's SO important that I include a partial year with your project to get you off on the right foot. We'll discuss your options in our Discovery Chat and/or prior to your site launch. Learn all about our WordPress Care, Maintenance + Hosting plans.