Launching a website project in Pau, in south west France, can feel daunting. Between choosing a supplier, setting the budget, deciding which features to build and holding to a deadline, the questions come crowding in. And yet a well-run web project follows a buoyed channel. Knowing the stages in advance keeps you out of the choppy water and lets you make headway calmly. Here is the course to steer, from the first objective to the day you go live.
Define your objectives first
Before any talk of design or technology, you have to be clear about what the site is meant to achieve. A site is not an end in itself: it is a tool in the service of an objective. Wanting a handsome site is not enough.
A budget is framed at the same time as the objectives: our website subscription packages give you the orders of magnitude from the outset.
The questions to ask yourself are concrete ones. Do you want to attract new customers in Pau and across the Pyrénées-Atlantiques? To sell online? To show what you can do, so that people are reassured before they first get in touch? To take appointments automatically? Each objective steers you towards different choices of structure, content and features. A booking site for a therapist has nothing in common with an online shop for a retailer.
Write a brief that sticks to the essentials
The brief is the compass of the project. There is no need to turn it into a fifty page document: a few clear pages are enough to frame the essentials and head off misunderstandings with your supplier.
A good brief spells out your objectives, the pages you expect, the features you want, your visual identity if you already have one, examples of sites you like and an indicative budget. The document serves as the reference throughout the project. It protects the client as much as the supplier, by fixing a common frame from the start.
Think about the site tree from the outset
The site tree is the chart of your website: how the pages are organized and how they connect. Drawing it early spares you from sailing by eye later on. A clear structure makes navigation easier for visitors and easier for Google. It also governs your local SEO, by putting the pages that matter for Pau and the 64 department at the top of the order.
Choosing between an agency and a freelancer in Pau
The choice of supplier is decisive. In Pau as anywhere else, two broad options are open to you: the web agency or the freelancer. Neither is better in the abstract, it all depends on your project.
If your business reaches past greater Pau, our survey of what clients in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques expect from a website opens the question out to the whole department.
The agency brings a multi-disciplinary team, support that lasts and continuity of service. If your supplier takes a holiday, the project does not stop. The freelancer, for their part, often offers more flexibility and a single person to talk to. For a site that will grow, be maintained and be looked after over the long run, the agency has the advantage of permanence. For a one-off, straightforward project, a freelancer may be all you need.
Follow the stages of the build
Once the supplier is chosen, the project enters its active phase. The passage usually follows a handful of major stages, in this order:
- Design and mockup: the agency turns your brief into visual mockups that you sign off before any development begins.
- Production: the design is built, the content is written or brought in, the features are put in place.
- Acceptance testing: the phase where you check every page, every form, every link before the site goes live.
- SEO optimization: tags, speed, structure and local SEO are polished to give the site every chance.
Every stage carries a sign-off point. You keep your hand on the tiller and move forward in confidence, rather than discovering the finished result only at the end.
Going live, and what comes after
Going live is not the end of the project but the start of your site’s life. Once published, the site has to be watched, maintained and fed. The first weeks are for checking that Google is indexing it, making whatever adjustments turn out to be needed, and measuring the first visits.
Beyond that, a site calls for regular upkeep: updates, backups, security and changes to the content. Setting a maintenance budget aside from the start is what stops the site drifting once the launch is behind you. A site that is alive and looked after stays fast and secure over the long run.
Frequently asked questions
Where do you start when building a site in Pau?
By defining your objectives and writing a simple brief: it guides every choice that follows.
Agency or freelancer in Pau?
The agency offers a team and support that lasts; the freelancer, more flexibility. The choice depends on your project and your budget.
How long does it take to build a site?
10 to 15 business days for a brochure site whose content is ready, and from a few weeks to two months for an ecommerce site or a custom project.
Should you set a maintenance budget aside?
Yes. A site has to be maintained, updated and backed up to stay fast and secure over the long run.
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