How to Work with a Week of the Website Designer
Developer Kishya Greer shares her tips for getting the most out of your WOTW experience.
If your week with us is starting soon, we have some advice on how to avoid hiccups and ease any stress you may have about your Squarespace website build. We may not be Allstate, but don’t worry — you’re in great hands.
Here are our best practices for working with your developer during your Week of the Website engagement.
Before the week begins
There are a few simple things you can do to effectively translate your site vision to your developer. First, fill out the Discovery Survey. It’s like a magic mirror that helps us understand the what, why, and how of your ideal website. While all of it is important, there are a few key areas developers want you to spend a few extra minutes on:
*Your competitors. Who are your top three?
*Websites that you like and dislike. Go into as much detail as you can.
Do you like the overall color scheme, font, layout, photo treatment, or simplicity? Do you hate illustrations and they should be avoided at all costs? The more detail the better. Going through these sites will be a large part of your Monday kick-off call, so be prepared to share.
In addition to the survey, be sure all of your website photos are uploaded. Don’t have photos? No worries! Try Unsplash for free images. If you have videos, be sure you’ve uploaded them to Youtube or Vimeo before the week begins, and paste the links into your outline document. Having all of your content in your outline document as early as possible gives your developer time to review and ask questions, which helps obliterate several possible hurdles during your dev week.
Development Week
Let the transformation begin! This is the part we love. You and your developer are creating something amazing together — but they need your help. Give feedback that’s as clear and concise as possible. Not loving the look on day two and holding that feedback until day four would be catastrophic. Our meetings are a safe space to speak your mind. We want you to be delighted with your website by the end of our engagement and that is only possible with your guidance. Use your copy-change doc often and lay it all on us — the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Remember that things will move fast. Content changes, sections move, and images are swapped. If you like something from a newly found site, pop a link in the change document, as a visual reference is always handy. Lastly, while we absolutely love Squarespace websites — we did build our lives around it, after all — it does have its limitations. As we build together, we may both have questions of whether or not something can be done. We’ll figure it out together. If it can’t be done, rest assured we’ll find an alternative. Being flexible in the process is a huge plus. Things will change and can change often, but the journey is the joy of any adventure, isn’t it?
Launch Day
We did it! We built something — together! Now let’s share it with the world. On launch day, we’ll need to connect your URL. Have the credentials handy just in case we need them to get you connected faster. While most of the time connecting a URL is fast (minutes) it could take up to a day or two, as servers need to chat and sync to make sure everything is set up correctly. Your launch day may technically be Friday you may not be able to type in your URL to get to your site until Monday.
During our launch call, we’ll walk you through some of the basics of how to keep your site up to date. Now is the time for specific questions. This call is basically a 1-on-1 training session with your developer.
We will need to also activate your account. Having payment information ready is key. Another alternative is to upgrade the account before the call. Let us know what you prefer and we can get you added to the site before your launch day. Also, if you have multiple people you’d like to have access to the site, let us know so we can add their names and emails.
Now it’s time to hand you the keys to your new site. You’re all set! If you need changes to your site after our engagement is complete, reference our handy training portal. If it is a bit more complex, you are always welcome to reach back out to your project manager.
With all of these things in mind, I have a feeling you will be our new favorite client.
