Waterman Design Associates
As a major, multi-disciplinary civil/design firm based in Westborough, Massachusetts, Waterman Design Associates (WDA) contacted Kaufman Web Design™ in hopes of revitalizing their existing web presence. Their requirements were that the website contain detailed information on their services and past projects as well as visually convey the professional image they maintained in their existing printed marketing materials. Following is an explanation of how their site was developed.

Stage I: Site Architecture
After initial conversations, a site map was developed and approved by WDA. Outlining the flow of pages and information, the site map also clarified the main goals of the project, one of which was giving potential clients key information on the company and letting them explore (through pictures and text) the past successes of WDA. With a thumbs-up on the overall site architecture, focus progressed to prototype design.

Stage II: Prototype Design
Using initial color and design preferences from WDA, Kaufman Web Design™ began creating various mockups for the look and feel of the site. After some tweaking, a final design was agreed upon and work began on creating the actual website. Also at this stage, Waterman personnel began gathering content needed to populate the new pages.

Stage III: Development & Production
Using HTML authoring software, Flash and graphic design tools, the site was created to the clients' specifications. As adjustments arose and changes requested, they were incorporated into the design. Issues such as cross-browser compatibility and web-safe colors were taken into consideration as was the need for quick download times (for those users on dial-up connections). All these efforts resulted in the site matching the clients desires exactly.

Stage IV: Promotion & Marketing
WDA understood that getting the new site to rank high in the search engines was critical to the overall success of the endeavor. A set of key phrases were drawn up that the company wanted to rank high in. The first step was to add meta tags in the HTML code. Then register the site with Yahoo and other major search engines. After a few months of reviewing the ranking results, the site was resubmitted to enhance rankings even more.

Stage V: Ongoing Maintenance
A website is an ongoing endeavor. The key is timely content updates and WDA was well aware of this. As new projects and clients came about, Waterman Design Associates worked with Kaufman Web Design™ to update the site. A web presence evolves with a company. It must not be static. It is a medium of information and must adapt to reach its target audience. WDA was a prime example of this approach.