Thank you for your interest in building a content management system website with Smart Solutions.  In order to create a smooth, efficient experience, we like to keep you well informed of the steps we take to ensure that our clients are pleased with their sites.

Identifying the fit
Because our company creates dynamic websites in our custom content management system, we want to make sure that you know and understand the benefits of building your website with us.  We accomplish this by engaging you with a series of questions to help you and Smart Solutions identify and outline the goals you have for your content managed website.  We will ask questions, such as:

• Do you plan on changing your site on a regular basis?
• Is having control of editing your website a priority?
• Are SEO/SEM and branding consideration important to you?
• What site functionality or features are necessary for the success of your site?
• What are your timeline and budget needs?
  

The Creative Brief
The creative brief is a tool that we use to help you begin thinking about your content management system website in ways that you possibly have not before.  It covers a series of questions from: "who are your competitors?", to "how do you anticipate your navigation begin organized?".  Answering these questions aids our team and will help you to have a better understanding of the motives and expectation you have for your content managed website.

The creative brief is sent out after our first discussion with the request that it be filled out as much as possible before the first meeting.  In the time before our first meeting, with the creative brief in hand, we do preliminary research.  If you have a current site, we review and analyze it.  If you indicate in the brief that you are interested in search engine optimization, we will do preliminary research on keyword competitiveness.

First Meeting
During our first meeting, we will clarify your needs and goals for your content management system website.  Our aim is to learn more about your background, future growth and what current marketing efforts you are making.  We will speak about Smart Solutions' background; experience in internet development and our custom content management system.  If you have questions from the creative brief we will address them.

Timeline:
We will walk you through an explanation of our normal timeline and process of building a content management system website.  If you are interested in search engine optimization or software, we will explain those processes also. 

Project Status Reports:
Each week through the duration of your project with Smart Solutions, we will email you a Project Status Report.  The report is a tool that we use to keep you informed.  It will tell you what has been done, what remains to be completed and who is responsible.  During our first meeting with you we will show you an example of the project status report so you will know what to expect.

Training:
Once your content management system website is complete, Smart Solutions provides you with comprehensive, hands-on training of your specific site that will enable you to quickly and easily update it.  During the meeting we will give you our content management system training manual and briefly discuss what you can expect to gain from your training.

Domain and current email:
If you do not currently have a domain name or URL, we offer domain name consulting and domain services at Smart Solutions.   We also provide email addresses in blocks of 10 if you do not already have internal email.

Site Stats:
In order to glean as much information as we can from from your current site, we request the you provide us your server logs or past site stats.  From this information, we can detect how people are getting to your site, which pages receive the most traffic, how much traffic your site gets in a day, etc...  We use this information to help guide the development of your content managed website.

Items we request for the first meeting:

• Print marketing materials and your logo

Hosting:
At Smart Solutions, we only host our own content management system sites, we are not a server farm.  We bill for hosting quarterly.  The cost of hosting varies depending on the amount of storage space, the number of emails, etc...  In the first meeting we will discuss with you all of your options for hosting at Smart Solutions.

Proposal
After the initial meeting, we will craft a proposal based on your needs and review it with you.  If you have any questions once you have received the proposal, we invite you to give us call.

Deliverables
When you are ready to get your project started we require the signed contract and deposit to begin work.  We will also need your digital marketing files.  

We're ready to begin!  From this point on, you will receive a project status report weekly that will let you know the progress of your site and deadlines for the project.