The process of building an Actinic website

A normal Actinic website build will take from 4 to 6 weeks depending on the complexity of the website, how much preparation you might need to do (e.g. collating product information and photos) and any external factors such as photography.

By taking the following steps we can ensure that your project is correctly specified, designed and constructed so that you are 100% happy with the final result.

1. Initial discussions, quote and approval
2. Research, structure and website mockups
3. Actinic configuration, styling and testing
4. Page and product filling
5. Testing, preview and training
Launch and beyond

1. Initial discussions, quote and approval

Naturally, you will want to discuss the options available to you, decide on the best software and understand the costs that you are likely to incur before you commit to proceeding with your project. We are happy to help wherever possible by showing demonstrations, advising on  requirements as well as producing quotes for your consideration. We can usually answer most of your questions by telephone and email and we can provide online demonstrations using our web-sharing facility. If it is possible we can come to visit you or arrange to video conference if this helps.

Once you are happy with our suggestions, prices and answers to your questions, we would normally ask you to approve the quote (quotes and sign off are manged through our online system) so that we can book your project in. At this stage we can also discuss project milestones and deadlines to ensure that the build will fit into your schedule.

2. Research, structure and website mockups

In this step we will analyse your competitors and other suitable sites that your target audience may relate to. We will also finalise the website structure diagram so that we can all visualise what pages and sections the final site will have. Our efforts will then focus on producing a mockup of the home page using a combination of your ideas, our research and a little bit of design wizardry. We will present our designs securely via the Internet using our website’s client area. When you view the mockup, it will look like a finished website, you just won’t be able to click on anything or move to another page

We then welcome you comments and will work with you to agree a final design and overall style for the sections and product pages, as well as any other special areas of the website you would like us to focus on.

3. Actinic configuration, styling and testing

Actinic is an extremely powerful and flexible application that we will need to configure to your precise requirements. These settings normally include postage rates, methods and zones, online payment methods and VAT settings. We also need to configure the shopping basket and checkout process as well as set other options specific to how products are displayed on the page.

The biggest part of your project is styling the Actinic pages to match the approved mockup style. In this step we need to style the many templates used to display each page, section, product and all the special pages that contain the search, basket and checkout functionality. Each page need to be checked to ensure it loads quickly and is compatible with different computers and their browser software.

4. Page and product filling

This step may be completed by us, or by you, depending on what suits you best. As this is something that you will be doing as part of the ongoing website management you may wish us to hand over the website ready for self-stocking. Alternatively, you may wish us to complete this for you making sure that each page and product looks it’s best ready for launch. Sometimes it is possible for us to import a spreadsheet or database of products much quicker than manual entry. We can also batch process product images creating the thumbnails and larger versions saving time and preserving quality.

5. Testing, preview and training

Once the website is ready for testing we will upload it to a special secure area. You can then fully test your new website without it actually being live to the general public. Any last minute changes and modifications can be actioned and all the final tests can be performed. We will normally provide you with your training at this stage as you can fully test out how everything works in private. Training can be provided in person or by telephone combined with a desktop share over the Internet.

Launch and beyond

When everyone is happy with the new website we can switch it live and you can your let customers know it is open for business. Although the initial project work is now complete, we are still available for any last minute support or modifications.

Finally we will always advise you what needs to happen next. We can discuss further promotion requirements such as email newsletters, search engine optimisation, pay-per-click and the use of social networking. We can also help you connect up online statistics so that you can see how well your website is performing.

	Actinic websites in our portfolio		Frequent Questions about Actinic
	Actinic development prices		The process of building an Actinic website (this page)
	Actinic software options		Request an Actinic demonstration