Michael Curia
By: Michael Curia – Bayshore Solutions Project Manager
I am passionate about planning, it’s my profession. As a digital project manager, my core purpose is to create and execute web development project plans.
When I first joined Bayshore Solutions I heard the old Vince Lombardi quote “Plan your work and work your plan” echoing down the hallways. I love that planning and strategy are a core focus of Bayshore Solutions. As we have grown as an agency, so too has our focus on planning and strategy, and out of this focus, a service we call “Envision” was born.
Envision:
Based on years of experience with website development, Bayshore Solutions formally documented our website methodology that outlines the approach we take to our customer projects and services. The first and foundational phase of that methodology is called “Envision.”
You may be asking yourself, what is “Envision”? Envision is planning your website while aligning your business goals. Envision is the cornerstone of successful website implementations. In the Envision process, Bayshore Solutions works with its client defining the website’s core principles (Business Goal, Website Objectives, Target Audience, and Website Actions) and then based on these principles, Bayshore Solutions suggests strategies and documents a successful website development plan.
Defining the Principles:
Business Goals- defining and outlining your overall business goals help ensure the website is fully aligned with your business.
Website Objectives- defining the goals of the website. Goals vary from business to business, but below are some good examples of website objectives:
- Sale of a product(s).
- Providing relevant information to users.
- Encouraging users to take an action (such as request a quote, submit a form, or other forms of lead generation).
- Drive users to call or visit the company location(s).
- Target Audience- defining who will be visiting the website. Typically we prefer to outline the three to four target audiences that you will be marketing to.
- Website Actions- defining how your target audience should interact with the website to meet your website objectives.
Your Website Blueprint:
After an initial consulting meeting defining your core principles, Bayshore is able to move into the second phase of Envision and start planning. The planning phase of Envision involves strategy sessions and initial documentation to create an executable “website blueprint” that aligns Bayshore Solutions with its customers.
Why are strategy sessions important? Strategy sessions are important because these meetings ultimately result in working with our clients to craft specific and powerful web development solutions for their business needs. Strategy sessions can take various shapes and sizes depending on our customer’s unique business. I have been involved in a simple 2 hour sessions defining the sitemap and homepage/subpage wireframes, and I’ve also been involved in extremely in-depth strategy sessions involving user and stakeholder interviews, multiple meetings with different business units, and working to define completely custom website functionality, workflow, etc.
Documenting your website strategy. The key to the success of your project is not only strategizing, but also documenting this strategy in the form of an executable plan including a Website Sitemap and Wireframes.
- Website Sitemap- is a tool used to define the website navigation and hierarchy of pages throughout the site.
- Wireframes- are non-graphical tools used to define the functionality and calls to action which should exist on key pages within the website.
Bayshore Solutions works closely with our customers to fine tune these documents and create a website plan, sitemap, and wireframes that are fully aligned with your core website principles.
Interested in learning more about Bayshore Solutions’ Envision and creating a foundation for your successful website implementation, Contact Us today!
Michael Curia is a Project Manager at Bayshore Solutions—a Web Design, Web Development, and Digital Marketing Company.