This questionnaire is designed to enhance communications between Steve McKinnis and my client/s. Why don't you print it on your printer, and have it handy when you discuss your project on the phone with me. After you've filled in the blanks as we talk on the phone, please make a photocopy for your records, and mail a signed copy to me. It provides a written memorandum of our mutually-agreed upon plan.
Organization Name: __________________________
1. Purpose
Give the most important purpose a "1", next most important a "2". Leave those blank which do not interest you at all.
__ To gain a favorable impression of the company or organization.
__ To develop a qualified list of prospects
__ To sell products directly taking credit card information over the Internet
__ To encourage potential customers to contact me by phone or mail to consummate a sale.
__ To make available product information and price lists to distributors.
__ To make available product information and price lists to customers.
__ To strengthen brand identification.
__ Other _______________________________________________________
2. Site Organization
Please label pages you desire and cross out the rest.
You do not need to do it on this print out, you can use a regular sheet of paper and map out your site, much like a family tree.
Total number of pages decided upon ________________
3. Site and Domain Names
Site Name on Masthead: ____________________________________
Domain Name It must be registered through your web hosting service and approved by a domain registration service before you can use it. You may check the availability of your domain name at GoDaddy.com (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain name ____________________________ ___Desired ___Already Registered
4. Masthead Graphic
It is very helpful if you will include a copy of your company's letterhead, brochures, catalog, etc. so I can see how you present your company image.
__ Company Logo incorporated in the masthead graphic? If so, please enclose a color copy.
__ Photo or drawing of product?
__ Typeface preference __________________________________________
__ Preferred colors in palette (PMS colors?) _______________________________________
__ Other ideas _________________________________________________________
5. Color and Accents
For the most part, I recommend a white background (or a color of your choice) for best readability and contrast, with a band of color or a pattern running down the left margin of the Webpage. Your preference:
May I include a link at the bottom of the welcome page which reads "website by steve@stevemckinnis.com"? (You are under no obligation to say yes.) ___Yes ___No
6. Navigation System
The navigation system of a Standard Website Packages includes:
Links from the front page and sectional pages to every page in the system to enable web search engines to "spider" and index content on every page.
Colored bar "Image Map" with a brief word or two indicating each page -- or, in larger sites -- each section of the website. This appears at the bottom of every page. In some sites I put this both top and bottom. You are limited to a maximum of about eight (8) selections on this image map. I use server side image maps to make it easy to expand the site at a later time without having to change the coding on each page of the site. For this reason, and to keep costs down, I do not include separate "buttons" on our standard sites. Included in sites of 6 pages or more.
Left-Side Menu with text links are especially useful on larger sites. Included in sites of 6 pages or more. They can allow more detail than an 8-item bottom image map, and can enable visitors to see from any page how to get to any other. These may be white or light-colored over a dark left-side color or pattern, or black or dark over a light left-side color or pattern.
Flat Graphic-Menu Links can appear anywhere on the page, can be circular, centered, right justified. It can be as creative as you like. It can even be a promotional advertisement you've used before but designed to function as a site.
Optional Systems. Circle those you wish incorporated in your site.
Left-Side "Buttons" can be made, but me do not recommend them, since they are more expensive and time consuming to maintain when a change or addition is made to the system. Also, it takes significantly longer to load many buttons than an image map of the same area (Extra charge)
Frames System where, typically, a scrolling menu remains on the left side to provide navigation. I do not recommend frames in practically any situation, since they are a design disaster. They do not always print out, cannot be bookmarked easily, and often make the page design look "tacky" with their scroll bars. Many search engines reject framed sites. (1) to display large databases of information, (2) purposely hide URLs of content pages, (3) send visitors to other sites while making it easy for them to come back. (Extra charge)
Search Engine is useful on larger sites of 20+ pages to help visitors quickly find what they're looking for. (Extra charge)
Flat Graphic with links Look at my site entry page example at:
Magazine Front, it has multiple links, but looks like a magazine cover. Your site can be constructed this way throughout. It makes for a very dynamic site and the possibilities are endless. Large companies usually go this route and it looks the same on every platform it is viewed on be it MAC or PC.(Extra charge)
7. Basic Page Elements
These are the important items which appear on nearly every webpage on your site (except the "home" page).
Slide Show This can appear at the top, middle or bottom of your site. Images/ads can be set at an interval speed you desire. I have several sites that incorporate this great tool. Many people have told me the often sit on a site just to see what is next. That is a great selling tool (Extra charge)
Page titles which show at top of web browser only
Top-of-page graphic based on the design of the masthead graphic
Page Title in larger type. Heading Font Style: ________________ (recommend Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, Arial Bold)
Text. Body Font Style: ___________________ (recommend Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif)
Image Map by Image Map bar
Standard company ID near bottom of page
E-mail response link to the following e-mail address: _________________________
Copyright and trademark information in small print at the bottom of every page. What registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks does your company want to indicate here?
Do you have any trademarks or service marks? If so, please list them here and indicate which are registered trademarks.
8. Photos, Graphics, Animations, Sound, and Video
This contract includes a statement that you own the copyright to, or have permission from the copyright owner to use any photos or graphics you send me.
I don't really recommend music or animated gifs on web sites. Depending on your end user/customer, some do not load properly, especially for people who are on a dial up system and they can load slowly or an error message can appear on your page.
I have heard many complaints about music on a site, either the volume is loud or can't be shut off or it is startling when someone comes to your site for the first time.
Keep in mind your customer and most web surfers are looking for sites that are clean, easy to navigate and simple to understand.
Clipart can look cheap or home spun. People within your organization or your product shots are best.
Photos you supply either by sending the photos themselves for me to scan and return, or by sending the digitized images on CD or upload to a designated site (this can be determined as we go).
Stock photos obtained from DreamsTime (http://www.dreamstime.com) or JupiterImages (http://www.jupiterimages.com/).
For an extra charge, I can equip your WebPages with:
Sound, either MIDI musical background or streaming Real Audio or voice. I do not recommend sound on sites unless it is easy to turn off.
Animated GIF images. High quality photo images are available from DreamsTime (http://www.dreamstime.com) and other sources.
Shockwave Animations
Video clips IF you do not own the copyright to the video do not post it. Professionally lit and edited clips are desirable. Badly shot shorts on your own camera won't represent your product or you in a professional light.
9. Web Hosting Service
I am not in the web hosting business. I recommend to my clients web hosting services tailored to their specific needs. I've worked with dozens of hosting services -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. I usually do not recommend hosting on your local dial-up ISP, since they too often are not well-prepared to meet specialized business site hosting needs. Their main business is usually dial-up access, and hosting is only a sideline for them. I recommend GoDaddy.com as a web host provider. I require cgi-bin access and FTP access, and strongly recommend telnet access.
Web Hosting Service _____________________________________
Phone: _____________________________
E-mail for support or help ______________________________
10. Maintenance
Target Date____________________
Package prices include minor updating over the first month of this contract. This covers minor price changes, product changes, etc. It does not include major changes, such as changing newsletter content (which essentially involves constructing a new webpage), which is billed at my hourly rate. I am available to maintain your site on a weekly or monthly basis depending on what you need. I do offer a discount to clients who commit to a yearly contract. Ask me about specifics regarding this.
Target Date for final payment to be made and your Web Site to be advertised: _____________
On behalf of my organization/myself I approve the above plan which I have developed with Steve McKinnis to construct a website, and I authorize Steve McKinnis to use this website Planning Worksheet as the basis of the project.
Signature _____________________________________ Date _________________
These are the items that will make up the package you'll be sending to me:
Website Design Contract
Website Content (you need to draft up each page and what it is linked to) which will define for me the:
Written content for your WebPages (preferably on CD or via e-mail formatted in Word.
Photos or graphics to be included. You may send graphics and photos which I can scan into electronic form. Even better, send me a diskette or ZIP disk with your graphics in any popular PC format, such as GIF, JPEG, BMP, EPS, CDR, PCX, etc.). If these are in Mac format, make sure each picture has a 3-digit extension, such as .jpg to indicate the format in which it is given.
Your company logo (if any), and tell me the PMS color.
Samples of your printed materials -- brochures, letterheads, cards, booklets, etc. -- so I can see how you present your company image.
Check for at least 50% of the total.
You may send your package to Steve McKinnis, by mail or by UPS, FedEx, etc. to this address:
Steve McKinnis
1010 University Avenue #754
San Diego, CA 92104, USA
I look forward to receiving your materials and constructing your site!
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