1. Conceptualizing
The following represents the conceptualizing steps we take when consulting with your organization regarding any web site initiative.
> A. determining the project objective: Your expertise about your target market and long-term business goals will provide us with a solid understanding of your company's objectives and enhance our recommendations; at all times, keep in mind that no one knows your business better than you do.
> B . Identify Target Audiences: We will never take on a project without an initial marketplace analysis! Team leaders will conduct targeted online research to determine which markets are online, what kind of browser software and operating systems they are using and if there is a demand for your organizations products and /or services.
> C. analyzes goals and message objective: Ultimately, what your Web site will do is provide a new outlet for customer support, sale leads and cost-effective communication. We'll help you discover new ways to extend and enhance your marketing message in the online world (believe us when we say that old and extinct brochure ware doesn't fly on the web).
> D. research competition: MSTART.com will do preliminary competitive research and we expect you to also familiarize yourself with the online community at large, and particularly your competition's web strategies. Take the time to analyze each site and note the positive and negative aspects of each. We are also here to provide you suggestions based on our findings.
> E. outlines new opportunities: If we find that your customer base is not active online, we will always look for ways to segment your audience and tap into a new customer base. If we discover that your idea has virtually no chance of surviving in the online community, rest assured we'll let you know!
> F. submit final proposal: Each proposal is customized for your specific needs; we also anticipate that you'll give us the courtesy of a thoughtful and accurate review.

2. Prototyping
Once the conceptual development objectives and strategies have been established, we gather our notes and ideas and begin the creative prototyping.
> A. assembles creative production team: Depending on the scope and scale of your project, we need to account for the hours it will take to execute the site, assign a team leader, determine the production schedule and manage the design process to meet project deadlines.
> B. design information structure: Many elements in this stage have been pre-determined during the technical and logistical planning phase. Our graphic designer is bound to these technical guidelines and must follow the logistical path during this idea prototyping stage.
> C. determine visual element: The next step requires the designer to focus on abstract communication, navigation bars and color schemes. This will ultimately lead to two to three rough comps in which the team leader provides further direction based on your identity and objectives.
> D. create prototypes and storyboards: Often times, we will create a mock-up to be posted in a private online viewing area for your approval. On larger projects, we may initiate the design mock-ups in stages based on your internal approval process.
> E. meet with client for approval of visual concept: After we have received sign off and suggestions from you, we refine our concepts and discuss content-specific areas that will require direct input from your marketing and/or editorial team.
> F. start the physical development of the Project Once we have received all of the copy and executables, our technical staff jumps in and begin to bring the site to life writing code and scripts.

3. Programming
After the technical and logistical considerations have been mapped out in prototyping, we gather our team of designers and technical editors to review the viability of project ideas.
> A. plan for brand identity: We assume that you have achieved brand recognition from a logo that has been used consistently in printed materials, ads and letterhead in which case we will reproduce it on your Web site. If you seek a new flavor or image for your Web site, we'll create a custom-made logo, masthead or image icons.
> B. discuss content structure: Web surfers have certain expectations when they go to a particular Web site. They expect logical navigation throughout the site, quick-load graphics, a means of contacting your company and ultimately some type of "reward" for visiting your site. In this stage we pay particular attention to the logical layout as well as consider the site's long-term growth
> C. determine bandwidth: Let's assume that your target audience is using a 14.4 modem, an outdated 8-bit 14" monitor, 8mb of RAM and has no technical skill whatsoever (yikes). We certainly don't want to include animation, plug-ins or Shockwave movies do we?
> D. determine platform/browsers: Many web sites that measure browser statistics indicate that Netscape Navigator 2.0 and higher is in use by approximately 58% of the online community while Internet Explorer 2.0 + is in use by an estimated 30%. The remaining 12% are running some flavor of Mosaic, Linux or UNIX. Users are further subdivided by platform such as Mac, Win 95 or Win 3.x. Whew! As you can imagine, it's hard to please all the users all of the time. That's why we design for multiple platform and browser compatibility.
> E. adjust plans for technical limitations: As mentioned above, many users will have different technical resources in place. For example, Real Audio plug-ins make for a neat 'dog and pony show', however we may discover during our online research that a segment of your prime target audience doesn't even have a sound card installed on their machine let alone the appropriate plug-ins. When in doubt-leave it out!
> F. execute: This is an area that we will require a significant amount of control over in order to manage your files and programs efficiently. Please be sure to discuss all of your long-term hosting options with us before registering a domain name or reserving server space. In all instances we will be happy to work with your preferred Internet service provider if we feel their services will meet your web development needs.

4. Final Release
> A. start web site testing: Even when a site seems complete, there are always refinements, enhancements and revisions to be made. After a secondary launch, we invite you to make revisions and minor additions. Typically we allocate two to three hours of testing and changes for each page prior to official launch.
> B. work on client revisions: Once we have received all client revisions, we are ready to take the site live under your domain. We also keep detailed checklists of all revisions made so that you can review this in your final sign-off.
> C. announce official lunch: Chances are your customers, investors and vendors would probably be interested in your new adventure on the Web. Remember, your Web address is as important as your phone number; therefore, it needs to be included in company letterhead, business cards and other promotional material. Include it with any print advertising and make sure your entire staff knows that you have a Web site and what your Web address is.
> D. develop working Meta tags: Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, WebCrawler, HotBot and Infoseek have been developed to help organize and categorize the millions of documents and files posted on the Web. Different search engines work with different criteria and standards, with some searching by content, others by concept, and some by keyword matching. In some cases, the search engines will use your Meta "description" and "keywords" as the summary for your web page. MSTART.com will create and embed working Meta Tags into each page of your site to ensure your URL is listed consistently in top ten rankings.
> E. register in major search engines: Once your Meta Tags have been inserted into the code, we initiate specialized link management, Web site promotion and search engine registration to ensure your site receives the proper placement on the Web.
> F. start marketing campaign: Another way to increase traffic to your site may involve a "grassroots" e-mail campaign to industry-specific sites and directories to request free and reciprocal links to your page. This stage includes compiling possible link sources and listing your site with directories and sub-directories as part of the online marketing and promotion. We encourage you to take the time to surf the Web and compile your own list of links - the more places your site is registered and linked, the higher your response rates will be.
> G. start media research for placement: When requested, we will develop a targeted media buying program to further promote your site. This requires online media research with industry analysts, surveying industry publications and compiling rates from web site media departments. Because these reports are highly customized, we will require team meetings with you and your marketing department to determine strategic messages and tactics, budget guidelines and production schedules.
> H. contact media channels and webmasters: In this phase we negotiate relationships with specific sites based on media research findings. Often times this requires numerous phone calls and e-mails to set the project in motion. At all times we will work within your budget guidelines to secure the best rate and media run
> I. create online ads and sponsorship links: In this stage we create animated banner advertisements and/or sponsorship programs to receive the highest click-through rate. This often requires following the technical guidelines required by many webmasters for placement on their web sites.
> J. track site usage patterns and media reports: Back-end online tracking and ad click-through analysis is executed and reviewed to determine final viability of placement; we than build upon success and insight to execute the most effective long-term marketing plan.