Because ours is a technical business, process is very important to us. It is the only way we can be certain we are delivering on our promises. We follow 10 specific steps with all Oliver Creative projects that ensure a successful product. They are:

1. Defining Your Goals:

We begin by learning as much as we can about your business or organization. We ask specific questions that help us create a set of clear objectives from which we measure our success:

• What makes you unique?
• What products and services do you provide?
• Who are your target audiences and how do you interact with them?
• What are your business objectives, both today and in the future?
• Who are your competitors and what are they doing online?

2. Understanding Your Clients:

This is one of the most important aspects of developing a website. We must spend time researching your potential site users, their needs and their motivations.

For each audience, we ask questions like:

• Why are they visiting the site?
• What are their objectives and what matters to them?
• What makes them want to do business with you?
• What do we want them to do when they visit your site?

3. Planning the User Experience:

Once we understand your business objectives and your audience(s), we plan ways to help you to interact with your audience by exploring questions such as:

• How can we get them to the site and how can we get them to use it?
• What will keep them coming back?
• What are the benefits of a client or prospect using your site?
• What information will help them to feel that they have gotten something from your site?

4. Designing the Site:

We compile all of the information to help determine the look and feel of the site. We look at your current marketing materials and determine if the current brand is successful or if enhancements/changes are needed. We uncover:

• What image do you want to convey?
• How do we want the client or prospect to feel when they visit the site?
• How can we help the client of prospect feel more than satisfied upon visiting your site?
• How can we keep it fresh?

5. Building the Site:

After the design is established, we move into production, carefully considering the user experience by determining the best way to build the site. We ask:

• What Internet connection speed are most of your clients using?
• How can we ensure that they are getting to the information they need quickly and easily?
• How can we develop the site in a way that it is easy to maintain?

6. Testing the Site:

It is critical to test the site for quality assurance. We discover:

• Is it easy to use?
• Do all of the links work?
• Does the site work properly on different operating systems and at different Internet connection speeds?
• Is the copy clear and accurate?
• Can people find the information they want?
• Does it leave the user feeling pleased with his/her experience?

7. Launching the Site:

Once we are certain that the site is ready, we launch it. We stop and ask:

• Are we proud of the end product?
• Have we exceeded our goals?
• How do we measure success?
• Are there any further improvements that we can make?

8. Telling the World:

We always enjoy celebrating with our clients and we remind you about things like:

• Have you sent a note to your mailing list?
• How can you/we get clients to be as excited as we are about the site?
• Can we have a launch party to spread the word?

9. Telling the Search Engines:

It is important to register the site with key search engines. Eighty-one percent of Internet users rely on search engines to find what they need, so we ask ourselves:

• Have we optimized the site for search engines?
• How can we be within the top 30 for all search engines and later the top 10?

10. Maintaining Your Site:

Few sites today are just brochure sites. Most require maintenance, so we ask:

• What can we do to keep it fresh?
• What information or interaction can we provide that will make our clients and prospects want to return?
• Do we have a plan for growth or new information to be added to the site?