We’ve put together some of the key things you can do to make the process easier still.

1. Assemble A List of Websites You Like or Dislike

Everyone has come across a website you love the design. Most people have come across an equal number of sites where the navigation just doesn’t work well, or the colors are just wrong. Don’t just look in your industry, either. Look at how different sites use navigation, handles subsequent pages or even has a cool product gallery. These ideas help direct our creative direction.

2. Look at the Competition and Gather their Sites

Knowing who your local (or national) competition will make research faster and easier in our discovery process. Also, it will allow Signalfire to better determine what the “bar” is set at and how we can get your site to exceed it!

3. Write Out What Pages You Want

Write a list of what pages your site needs. This list will help gauge the scope of the site development and give Signalfire a starting place in our discussions. Key to web design is the communication of what you’re looking for!

4. Write Your Copy for Each Page

Good writing is critical to a website. Combined with the knowledge you have for your business, writing a rough draft in advanced can save incredible amounts of time and effort. This stage is where most websites stall or even fail in development! If you need help turning the rough draft into a finished version, Signalfire has copywriters to help.

5. Communicate Deadlines or Timeframes

Knowing your business site needs to be complete in time for a product launch or an important tradeshow is something best shared in advanced. Small sites can be done in four to six weeks, but larger sites can take as long as months.

Signalfire works diligently to communicate up front all costs and timeframes. Our web development process delivers quality sites that significantly impacts the online business performance of all of our clients. Call today for a FREE one hour consultation.

Check out the full story at the Google Webmaster Central Blog.

What Does This Mean? In a Word—Everything.

For many years, clients and developers have always wondered what Google uses and what Google doesn’t. This posting changes everything. For one of the first times, Google tips their hand slightly at their process. While this may not be news to many hard-core SEO’ers, for the average small business owner—this is huge.

If Google isn’t using keyword metatags, are they useful? Yes and no. Some search engines may still use the laundry list of words and names crammed into the head tag section of a website. However, more and more search engines look to the content, the header tags and alt tags in the site. With search engines focusing on headers and alt tags, solid content is more important than ever.

One of the quickest growing axioms of web development is: “If you want to improve your website, improve your writing.” There’s good reason for it—search engines look at your content for keywords, terminology and other critical elements in weighing the performance of your site. Sloppy writing, writing with too little (or too much) jargon, or under-developing your site’s content suddenly proves hazardous.

A great way to improve your site during construction or during a redevelopment is to bring on a web copywriter. Have him or her review the content for keywords usage, for appropriate use of headers and for effective use of image tagging. Take the additional time to lay out a strategy for site architecture and content. The minimal cost addition may mean head and shoulders improvement in organic SEO performance.