I therefore thought it would be good to make a check list so that as a new business, or as someone looking for a new website, you have something to look through and know what to ask for. Over the coming weeks we will explain to you the fundamental steps required to getting the work you want done for you, the way you want it.

Part One – Before The Initial Meeting

The initial meeting is (in our opinion) the most important step of the process. The reason we don’t have prices on our website, and the reason we don’t have packages is because everyone is different. Every company has a different plan, a different strategy and different themes that must be reflected in their website and we believe that it’s simply not possible to fit everybody into 3 different boxes.

So what you should do before the meeting?

Being prepared is essential. It’s not a deal-breaker if you haven’t thought of everything (don’t worry) because that’s our job to pull the information we need, but it certainly will make you more aware of what you want, and more in control.

Things to think about:

• What your company is and what it does (obvious, but sometimes you really need to think about it and be succinct);
• Who your website is targeting (clients, customers, businesses, individuals, age-groups, genders, tech-savvyness);
• Themes that your company currently employs (colours, branding, logos, styles);
• Websites you like and dislike on the internet (underlined for importance – make a list and think about what it is about each of them that you like/dislike);
• What your website will do (when a user visits, what is their goal, what should they achieve – whether it’s buying a product or finding out what you do)
• How are you planning on promoting your website? (advertising, search engines, viral)
• If you had one sentence that you want everyone to take away from your site, what is it? (We’re not getting philosophical on you, but sometimes you need to think about the take-home message so that it’s strongly throughout the website)
• Who are your competitors? (This is an important one.. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.. You must know your competition in order to get ahead)

These are the top things that you can think about without much help. Don’t worry if you can’t answer them, and don’t worry if you can’t think of much. We’re here to help you with every step!

If you’ve now answered all these questions and want a new website… Give us a call (number on the top right) or check out our contact page

Part 2 – “The Initial Meeting” coming soon.

Josh

2010 was obviously a huge year for Identiti and myself, especially seeing that we only became a fully-fledged company in May! Moving from a sole-proprietorship , to a fully incorporated company has been a big step forward and so far it has been an extremely successful venture! With word-of-mouth spreading the orange logo across state & country boundaries, we’ve seen remarkable growth so far with partnerships and clients coming from an increasingly vast array of places and backgrounds.

Quite simply, we’ve loved every minute of the meeting, discussing and developing that has taken place over the past 7 months and can’t wait for more!!

So the big question now is: Where are we going in 2011?

Well our first (and possibly most important) promise is more of these, blog posts. It’s important to us that you know where we’re headed, and what we’re doing; so we’re going to keep you even more informed than ever before. We’re still on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn just to name a few, and we greatly appreciate the feedback that we get from all of these mediums, so thank you to those who are already following us (and to those of you who aren’t…… Well you should think about fixing that!). These blogs will also include information about the internet, things you should know, and things you should keep an eye on in relation to your websites and online presence. On top of that we’ll be profiling our clients, giving you a background about what they do as well as what we have been able to do for them.

Secondly, on the business side of things, we plan to start working with an even greater number of professionals and those on the forefront of website design and development. 2010 introduced us to some amazing people, and started to open our eyes to the incredibly huge number of developing and established  individuals in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia and beyond. We’re always on the lookout for fresh ideas, and we’re happy to lend an ear to anyone who wants to talk to us! Jump onto the contact page, call us, tweet us, Facebook us, we don’t care! Just don’t miss the opportunity to show off your great ideas and work with a company who prides itself on something fresh.

Another very exciting part of 2011 is that we have our eyes set on a shiny new office in Adelaide, South Australia, where we plan to move our operations in the coming months. With this comes the ability to work closer with our collaborators and therefore makes us able to offer prospective (and existing) clients an increasingly diverse range of skills and options. If you’ve seen it, liked it, and want it for yourself… Contact us!

Finally, 2011 means continuing to offer you fresh and exciting ideas for your new website and online presence. We can guarantee that we’ve never had the same meeting with two different clients and that’s because we pride ourselves on the fact that everything is custom-made and fresh. We ensure that the final product is exactly what you want. Our promise is that we will never propose things you don’t need, and everything you do require will be of the highest standard.

So thank you for all of your support this far! There’s work to be done and we’re really looking forward to venturing head first into 2011, The Year of the Orange.

Josh

In browsing the web, it’s quickly evident that each designer and client has their own opinion on what they think looks “good” and what they think works for that particular website. However for a designer or developer the most complicated step, I would argue, is not choosing the best design, but instead it is getting what the client wants, while still having some input over what is created. Take for example music in the background of websites, and “splash screens”. Both of these concepts were extremely popular 5+ years ago, however nowadays these concepts have slowly been phased out in place of more effective homepages and visually enticing designs. While most developers and designers would agree that these concepts are no longer used or effective, explaining this concept to some clients is difficult; if not impossible.

This brings me to the true question: How much of a website should be up to the client, and how much should be up to the designer?

In my opinion, it is the role of the designer or developer obviously not to just ignore the client’s requests, however it is also not their role to accept everything the client wants. In some cases it is important to sit down and explain why what they are requesting is not what they actually want. If every designer were to do exactly what the client has asked for, we would never move forward with designs that are new and exciting, instead being stuck with what the client has seen in the past and enjoys from sites that already exist. However designers can also not simply come up with an idea on their own, or the site won’t reflect the true values and content of the company they are designing for!

It is a difficult question, and one that differs (from my experience) client-to-client. Some like the idea of being involved in every step, however others would prefer to see what I can come up with, and work from that.

So what do you think? How much input in design should a designer have? Should it be a matter of turning someone else’s ideas into a reality, or should there be a level of filtering and adjudication input?

My answer is simple, and often surprises people: It’s because I don’t like ripping people off, and I can’t stand seeing other businesses and companies taking advantage of unknowing parties. The IT, computer and internet world is (unfortunately, in my opinion) dominated by jargon and a minority of individuals who can use big words to completely throw everyone else off. The truly talented, in my opinion, are not the people who can confuse you with their knowledge; instead they are the ones who can explain the most confusing concepts in a way that everybody can understand. I don’t think I am alone with this opinion, but there is still a strong culture of protecting the advanced works of the internet so that business continues to boom, and the uninformed stay that way. This is the main reason that I started Identiti Web Development, and also the reason that I am a consultant with IT Advocate (http://www.itadvocate.com.au/). The principles of both these companies are simple: If you like the work we do, you will recommend us, and there will be more work for us in the future. As opposed to how I believe many other companies operate, with a reliance on trapping you in a cycle of updates and repeat work in order to fill their quaffers.

So what is this all about? Content Mangement Systems (or “CMS”) are how this site is made, and is my preferred way of creating all sites. Quite simply it means that I create the framework, and you fill in the content. If tomorrow you want to change the content, then you simply jump on to the user interface and you do it yourself. This means that you don’t have to call and be charged for half an hour or even an hour’s worth of work for something that probably took 12.2 seconds. It does mean that I don’t hear from you until you have a dramatic change required, but I’d much prefer you to be happy with the overall final product!

Josh

Well as you can see, we’ve finally got ourselves a brand new website, with a brand new logo.

Business is booming with word of mouth referrals becoming an excellent source of new work both in Adelaide and abroad!

Thank you very much to Vladimir Kolar for our brand new logo! While an orange isn’t a normal logo for  website design company, Vladamir used some creative license to turn what was requested (“an orange logo”) into something more literal!

Please comment below if you have anything to say, but stay tuned for updates!

@IDWebDev