How to make the most of a website agency relationship
A relationship with an agency is just like any other in your life – it requires trust, good chemistry, and above all else, communication.
This guide will walk you through an agency relationship with This is Fever when creating a website, from the earliest discovery stage to the delivery of the final product and the future relationship that you can build. Read on to find out what it’s like to work with an agency, and how to make the most of the experience.
How do I get started working with a website agency?
It might sound obvious, but the first thing you need to do in order to have a successful agency relationship is to know what you want. This doesn’t just mean ‘a new website’ – it’s more than that. You need to be ready to dig deep into your vision for your brand, and express this to the agency, to ensure your vision becomes a reality. If you’re not certain about the direction you want to take your brand, it might be worth considering a brand workshop.
At this point, you might have any number of questions swirling around your head… Will I be supported throughout this process? How does all of this work? These are all valid questions to have, and are worth considering, so let’s answer them.
Will I be supported throughout this process?
You will be allocated an account manager, who will be the touchpoint for everything you need to know. They ensure that everything stays on track by keeping communication open, as well as managing timelines, budgets, and resources. Their role allows the team to work together smoothly, and they keep you in the loop throughout the entire design and development process. Your account manager is also the best person to talk to about making the most of your partnership with This is Fever in the future.
How does all of this work?
Once you’ve communicated the vision that you have for the project, the team will work with you to find the best solution for your needs. This stage is followed by the user experience, user interface, and development stages. Once you and your stakeholders are delighted with your new site, it’s time to manage the launch process to get your new website in front of your target audience. Just because the project ends, this doesn’t mean your relationship with This is Fever has to as well. There are plenty of opportunities for our team to help you develop many aspects of your brand, be it through support with marketing, design, or development.
What is the process of working with the design team?
Once this process of discovering what you want and need has been completed, it’s over to the design team. They are responsible for creating the visual and user experience aspects of a website. Their primary goal is to design an aesthetically pleasing, functional, and user-friendly website that aligns with a client’s brand identity and objectives.
When working with the design team, there will be two distinct stages. The first phase is the user experience, and the next is the user interface. Both of these phases will give you opportunities to provide feedback, which will allow the design team to better understand your wants and needs. This knowledge of your brand can be implemented not only into the current project, but also throughout your entire agency relationship with This is Fever.
What is involved in the user experience (UX) stage?
The user experience stage is essentially the mapping out of the website’s structure, and setting up the foundations of the project ahead. It’s not only about the structure of the website as a whole, but also the makeup of each individual page, content hierarchy and how the website links together. It’s all about the flow, and the journey that the user will take when interacting with the finished product.
It’s up to the designers to outline what the users are going to need from the website, and how to deliver on that. The idea is to put the user at the heart of the process, because a seamless and intuitive user experience is integral to the success of a website. Potential pain points or blockers stopping users from achieving their website goals are identified, and this information is used to plot the path of least resistance towards optimal conversion.
The design team will develop the site’s information architecture (IA), which is a blueprint of the website that outlines the structure of the website, what content sections will feature on each page, and how the site links together.
When this stage has been completed, the information architecture will be shared with you, and you will get 2 rounds of feedback. It is important to remember that this is not meant to be the final design, it is purely a representation of the flow of the site, and how users will experience it.
It is also very important that at this (and every other) stage of feedback you involve all of your key decision makers. If the UX design is only run past one person before being approved, only to find out later that it doesn’t align with the vision of the higher-ups, this could delay the delivery of the final product.
What is involved in the user interface (UI) stage?
People often confuse the user experience and user interface, because it is assumed that design is all about visuals. This is of course not the case, and you can find out more about this in our article on ‘The importance of user experience (UX) in website design’.
Building upon that structure, the user interface stage is the completion of all the design elements on the website. This is what most people picture when they think about design – the incorporation of visual elements in order to express your brand identity. The design team will transform the information architecture into a high-fidelity design, incorporating brand elements, including logo, typeface, colour, graphics, and imagery where applicable.
Once this stage is complete, you will be given a mocked-up version of your site to provide a further two rounds of feedback on. This is a visual representation of how your website will look, complete with prototyped elements including navigation and hover states.
You will be able to access this on Figma, a brilliant tool for exploring a preview of your site, which we have more information about in our article ‘The basics of Figma’, if you’d like to check that out.
Again, it is worth noting that you are not feeding back on the finished product, although it will include all the design elements that you will see on the completed website. Additionally, it is important to once again include all key decision makers in the feedback process for this section, as once it is signed off the development team will be bringing this design to life.
What is the process of working with the development team?
When the design stages have been completed, it’s time for the development team to sink their teeth into the project. The developers take the finished design, and build out the site, piece by piece, using code. They are responsible for making the site come alive on the web and ensuring that the site not only looks the way that the client is expecting, but is also highly optimised.
In this case, optimisation refers to the process of improving your Core Web Vitals, in order to boost your ability to perform well in Google’s algorithm. These Core Web Vitals are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and you can find out more about them in our article ‘What Are Core Web Vitals and How Do You Improve Them?’.
To begin with, the development team will build out your site in something known as the staging environment. Once this is nearing completion, the staging environment is shown to the design team for internal feedback, to ensure that it aligns with the design that was originally produced.
It’s after this that you’ll be given the link to the staging environment, so you can check out how the site works and looks before it is pushed to the production environment (where the site goes live). Similarly to the Figma prototype in the user interface stage, it’s worth remembering that the staging environment is a different thing from the production environment, which you will have access to when it goes live.
When looking at the staging environment to provide feedback, you’ll want to be checking that the site matches 1:1 with the design you signed off, and that the site also functionsas expected. The number of rounds of feedback that you will take part in at this stage can vary depending on the type of project.
We’re sure you’re getting sick of hearing this now, but it’s important so we’re going to say it again – make sure to get all of your key decision makers involved in the feedback on this section too! The last thing you want is for your site to be put live, only to then find out that not everyone is happy with it.
Once you’re happy with it, the site will be pushed to the production environment, and put live, and it’s at this point that the keys are handed over, and you’re put in the driver’s seat of your new website.
If content management system (CMS) training is needed, then this will be supplied, so you can get to grips with how to add and edit content on your site. For a more in-depth look at what a CMS is, and the benefits of WordPress as a CMS, feel free to check out our ‘Ultimate Guide to WordPress’.
What happens after I get my website?
Once the site is turned over to you, it’s up to you what to do next! If your hosting and maintenance is going to be managed by us, then we’ll sort it all out, ensuring that your site is securely hosted and looked after in the long run.
It’s important to get your maintenance sorted out, as it is essential for a website to stabilise its flexibility and reliability. Proper maintenance will help to ensure your website’s security, invite new visitors, boost traffic and more.
We’ll always be available to discuss any thoughts or concerns you have about your website, or anything else you might want to work on together. It’s worth bearing in mind that, once you have completed a project with us, you can feel confident that the team here at This is Fever will have a strong knowledge of your brand, and be well-equipped to help it reach its full potential.
Speaking of knowledge, there are some questions that we’re aware sometimes pop up once clients have taken the reins of their site, so we’ve listed them below to let you know the answer before you even have to ask!
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I update my plugins?
If we supply maintenance, we will keep your site up to date on your behalf, so you don’t need to worry. On our maintenance program, our developers deliver WordPress updates on a monthly cycle in a managed process so that we can test each update. This allows us to ensure the new plugin version is compatible with your site and any other plugins you might have to pre-empt any issues down the line.
Why can’t I see the changes that I’m making?
If you’re making changes on your site, and they’re only showing up when you’re logged in, you might need to clear your cache. For more information on how to clear your cache, why not check out our article on ‘Clearing your browser cache, cookies & history‘?
Why is my site traffic down?
If your website traffic doesn’t seem to be aligning with the effort you’re putting into increasing it, there could be a very simple reason why. The simple truth it that Google won’t recognise changes on your site instantly. In fact, according to Google, indexing your site can take anywhere between 4 days and 4 weeks, but you can rest easy knowing that it will recognise the effort that has been put in and reward you in visibility and traffic.
How do I know the sizes of what images I can upload to WordPress?
If you’re uploading images onto one of our WordPress sites, the aspect ratios are generally as follows:
- Landscape = 3:2
- Video & Banner = 16:9
- Portrait = 9:16
- Square = 1:1
We hope you’ve found this article a useful dive into the world of working with a website agency. Are you ready to improve your capacity and inject decades of experience and ideas into your marketing by partnering with an agency? Why not get in touch?
