<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 33355" data-quote="Mr.Donnerhuhn" data-source="post: 575106"
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Ahhh thanks! I had been googling and the first results were from Elegant Themes but they're out of date and treat the header as another module in the page builder. Thanks for clearing that up!<br />
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And this is a more general question to you, and Fox, and anybody else who's in this line of work.<br />
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What's your general process for designing & building once the client has signed on with you?<br />
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In my head it's laid out like this:<br />
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<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Consultation with client to understand their business & what they need</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Research and Analysis (Keyword research, demographics, etc...)</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Wireframe a mock-up, and send to client for review</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Decide on & implement final design</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">???</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Profit</li>
</ol>Am I missing any critical steps or is that pretty much the gist of it?
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</blockquote>There actually is a header as a module, it allows for a bit more options.. But use the normal one, its simpler.<br />
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BE SURE TO DESIGN ON A STAGING ENVIRONMENT<br />
(You don't want them not paying, thinking they just got away with a free website, then you take it down, and then they complain etc(been there, not worth it))<br />
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Get a subdomain and do it there. ex. (clientname.yourwebsite.com) Although this kind of stuff probably wont happen once you start doing bussines with some "higher end" clients.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 22px"><b>FIRST </b></span><br />
Always to find out what is the purpose of the website is and in what industry they are and how it works(just the basics). But focus on the purpose.<br />
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Is it to <b>sell </b>a product?<br />
Is it to <b>book </b>an appointment?<br />
Is it to give more <b>info </b>about something?<br />
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It is usually something in those lines, and when you know what the sites main purpose is, design around that. (Although some clients insist on having it the other way around)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 22px">SECOND </span></b><br />
If i am getting a client that works in an industry that I have not yet had experience in(not worked with a client in that industry) I google that service and see what is the general theme of those website, what I like and what I dont. Then I hop to theme forest, get some inspiration there and get to work. But keep in mind the main purpose of the website and then the design.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 22px">THIRD</span></b><br />
After that I usually design the homepage and dont present it if I dont like every part of it 100% (If I think I can do better basically)<br />
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Sent it to the client and get his feedback, if there are small changes do them, if they dislike it, schedule a skype meeting and get on the same road with them, because emailing back and fourth is going to take ages to get it the way they want(been there as well)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 22px">FOURTH</span></b><br />
If the website if "finished" go and try to break it and find some stuff that doesent work. ex. that you maybe forgot to put a link in, not formatted correctly, forgot to put the email address to the forms etc.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 22px">FIFTH</span></b><br />
After thats done, get the payment and setup the website on the main domain of theirs.<br />
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What I recommend is asking them if they want you to maintain the website(most cases they dont want to be bothered with it and will say yes) and charge cca 20$ for it a month.<br />
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PROTIP: You can get all of your websites on Manage-WP (<a href="https://managewp.com/" target="_blank" class="link link--external" rel="noopener">https://managewp.com/</a>). From there you can update all of your website plugins and themes and WP from one place(Although I recommend doing a backup <b><span style="font-size: 22px">every time</span></b> you update a theme or WP, because it <b><span style="font-size: 26px">WILL </span></b>break and you will wish you had a back up.)<br />
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They also offer a lot of other services like performance tests, backups and some other stuff for about 1$ per service, which is really cheap but I prefer to do it for free with some other tools.</div>
