Although currently in a testing phase, last week we went live with the new and improved website for Cotton & Co. Real Estate Inspection Services based in Houston, Texas. You will note the similarity of the name to our name at Cotton Studios. That is because Galen Cotton, the founder and partner of this excellent company is indeed my father.
Don’t let the familial ties fool you though. This site was created using the same creative process as any other project.
The Research Phase
This first phase is one of the most important when creating new design work for any application. You have to know your target market, the competition, related professional organizations, and the desires of the client. Doing this project, I discovered many interesting things. For example, I discovered that nearly 80% of the basic decisions involving purchasing a home are made by women. This bit of information helped me to create a color scheme pleasing to both female and male genders within the age range of 25-70. I also discovered that very few Real Estate Inspectors make thorough use of the web as a networking and efficiency source. To encourage full networking capabilities, the news articles are equiped with a toolbar that allows readers to share these articles on various networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Google Reader. These are just some of the ways we used the research to help expand the needs of our clients and hopefully our client base.
Organization of Information
Content strongly suggests the form a website should take, so information collection and organization is a crucial first step. I took the information that appearred on Cotton & Co.’s previous site and added to it. Within the research phase, I found that many professional organizations offer sample questions to ask Real Estate Inspectors before hiring one. I simply interviewed Cotton & Co. to fill in the necessary blanks, and began to write the copy and develop the organizational plan for the site.
Of course, the original organizational chart was revised as we continued, but starting out with a plan is necessary for creating a well-organized site.
The Design Phase
I always start the design phase by choosing my color palette. It may change in the course of a project, but I like to begin with a set palette which is pleasing to the client and theoretically the target audience. I then base my layout on the organization of content.
The client’s concern on this particular project was the need to display buttons that would serve as direct pathways to the contact forms on the site. We did this by creating a left-hand column that reoccurs on each page and present links to the form pages in a way that wasn’t boring. I first developed the homepage, and after approval, we moved into creating the templates for the site’s interior pages.
Finishing up the Site
After all of the color choices have been made, the content has been organized, and thus the design has been complete, I then move into coding the site. I first code the site in html using css, and I then break that down into php templates. This site runs on the WordPress publishing platform, which enables my clients to sign-in to the backend of the site to easily add posts, pages, and make revisions.
After the basics, I have also created several forms within the site that are emailed from the site’s database directly to Cotton & Company. These forms act as contact forms that contain the information necessary for Cotton & Company to either contact someone or to set up an inspection. We are currently also adding the ability for payments to be made on the site through PayPal.com. These forms will help Cotton & Company to more efficiently run their business, to help add a new set of clients, and to save money by being able to update their own website.
Check out Cotton & Company’s new site. I would love any feedback you have to offer!
