At Digital Silk, we take a five-step approach to designing and developing a website:
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Digital Strategy
The Digital Strategy begins with a kickoff call, where the project team leader starts a discovery phase process with the client. We then proceed with an in-depth overview of the business model and the client’s digital marketing goals.
At this stage, we perform competitive research and analysis to gain a deep understanding of the market, and identify the client’s competitors, their industry landscape as well as analyzing website performance.
These insights are then used to define the brand’s unique value proposition, target audience and personas, outline a data-driven conversion funnel, and conduct a comprehensive keyword research
Additionally, we define CMS capabilities and document key performance indicators.
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Messaging & Planning
During the website planning and messaging phase, the insights gained from the digital strategy process are used to create an effective web design plan and engaging messaging for the website.
At this stage we optimize messaging for header sections to showcase unique value proposition and we identify the users’ needs to help us strategically plan the journey of the conversion funnel, while also defining strong and diverse CTA’s that will engage users throughout their journey.
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Site architecture & wireframe creation
The first step of this phase is UX Design, where UX experts use the website plan as a guideline to create wireframes.
The custom wireframe serves as a blueprint for the website that illustrates the content layout and user-flow without any distracting elements, such as color, images, or motion graphics.
We then define the CMS Back-end structure and create a functionality specification document for the designs and developers which ensures they have a strict guide throughout the design and development process.
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Creative design & mockup iteration
At this stage, our award-winning designers add color and imagery, define typography, and apply any additional elements to wireframes.
Both desktop and mobile designs are then shown to the client for feedback and approval.
The approved design is then converted into a style guide and passed on to the development team.
The client is also provided with a link to InVision, where they can access and review all the designs, and download them at any time.
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Development, quality assurance, testing & launch
At the development stage, Digital Silk dedicates a collaborative team of expert front-end and back-end developers to build a fully custom solutions while maintaining the previously defined visual aspects.
The website is reviewed on multiple browsers and tested on multiple devices, including desktop, mobile and tablet to ensure its responsiveness.
Lastly, we plan and customize the CMS and provide client training on the CMS so they can add and update content internally.
Once the website is ready for launch, we move into the quality assurance phase where we ensure proper front-end and back-end performance and functionality. We also make sure the website is secure, loading speed is optimal, and that the code is optimized for best SEO results.