Goals
Solution
About WordPress
Functionality
Design
Budget
Mission
Philosophy
About Dan

Goals

My goal is to create a web site for you that is visually appealing, progressive, professional, clean, calming and which provides visitors with an easy-to-navigate, intuitive information architecture. The new website will transform the web presence from a largely static, informational brochure to a dynamic, easily updatable digital story about the organization’s services, activities and clients.

The language used to communicate this story will be the colors, the menu navigation, videos, photos and categorical photo galleries. In addition the new website will be a hub for resources, press materials, event information and location and contact information.
The new web site will not only be a visual design, but will incorporate multiple functional components (e.g. search, photo gallery, video, event calendar, social media integration, and document manager) in order to provide utility to both you and visitors.
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Solution

My proposed solution is to implement a robust, flexible Content Management System (CMS) that will allow for easy updates. The CMS I will use as the platform will be WordPress (About WordPress). I will use a collection of community-developed and/or commercial extensions and plug-ins where applicable, customized where necessary for your specific needs. I will work collaboratively with you and/or your staff to craft a theme which will be used by the CMS to create a consistent overall look and feel for all pages on the website. I will start with a clean, professional template and then customize the theme in specific places to align with your current brand.
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About WordPress

WordPress is a free, Web-based software program, powered by PHP and MySQL, that anyone can use to build and maintain a website or blog. It was originally intended as an easy way to set up a blog. But, thanks to the efforts of a large “open source” community of WordPress programmers working to extend and improve its capabilities, WordPress has become much more than just a tool for bloggers.

It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. Used by over 12% of the 1,000,000 biggest websites, WordPress is the most popular CMS in use today.

Today’s WordPress is really a “content management system” (CMS), which means that it can be used to run full-sized, social media-rich business websites.

There are four main reasons to consider using WordPress for a new website:

1. WordPress designs are based on “Themes”. Themes are composed of images and cascading style sheet (CSS) webpage layouts, and this makes it very easy for you to customize the look and feel of a WordPress site using a pre-existing Theme. On the low-end of the design scale, you can basically drop a company’s logo into the top corner of the page and you are good to go!
2. WordPress software allows anyone to create and edit new web pages and blog “posts” using only a web browser. No knowledge of HTML or other code is required. The WordPress editing interface is very easy to use. It works a lot like simple word-processing software. And, the site administrator can grant various levels of access to others, allowing them to contribute to the website/blog. Because the interface is web-based, creating and editing pages can be done from anywhere with an Internet connection.
3. The blogging features in WordPress allow you to update your website/blog frequently, to receive and respond to comments from your readers, and to allow others to subscribe to your site content using RSS. This is great for your human customers and potential customers. It is also great for search engines, because search engines love fresh content.
4. There are many more features of a WordPress website or blog that make it much, much better than a traditional “static”, “brochure-style” website (i.e., built once and never updated after that) when it comes to search engine optimization and social media. And many of these features are taken care of automatically, requiring little or no effort (or programming skill) on your part.

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Functionality

I will use WordPress to implement a flexible, dynamic web site that incorporates the following functional capabilities, with the facility to add more functionality as the need arises:

• Clear, easy to use navigation menus in one or more standard locations (top bar, side left, side right, etc).
• Optional Photo Slide Show on Home page (starting with 5 photos).
• Dynamic (updatable) content areas (e.g. “Home”, “About Us”, “Services”, “Gallery”, “Resources”, “Press”, “Events”, “Contact Us”), linkable to each other and/or to outside sources. Content areas will allow for use of photos, photo galleries, and/or video and other rich media to be embedded.
• Ability to add images and photo galleries through the WordPress interface.
• Media manager for easy integration of images, videos, PDFs and other documents within the web site.
• Call-out boxes for special promotions, links to associated social media accounts (e.g. Twitter/Facebook), featured video, or a featured event.
• Site analytics through Google Analytics to provide specific information about site user behavior.
• Fully integrated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for URLs and client-provided metadata (i.e., keywords) content.

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Design

Equally important as underlying functionality is the functionality of design. Utilizing industry best practices for effective web design, I will work in conjunction with you and/or your staff to design the overall look and information flow of the web site. Our two-fold goal will be to build credibility and enhance user experience. Design solutions will emphasize:

• An intuitive, interactive, and visually consistent interface which will define main message(s) and lead users through the site to the content that best suits their needs and interests, and which can be easily expanded in future updates.
• A clean, friendly, appealing feel that builds credibility with plenty of relevant content to educate visitors, while also creating a welcoming home for repeat visitors.

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Budget

Below is an itemized example for implementation of all the functional and design solutions detailed above, along with hosting and maintenance service options. Additional services (e.g. email marketing, social media integration, etc) can be quoted separately as desired. Prices do not include fees from third party solutions (e.g. domain registration, website hosting that supports a WordPress installation*, merchant account fees, email marketing/list management services, etc.)

For an exact quote please contact me at Dan@DanielMGronwald.com

Timeline

Project as outlined above will be completed within 30 days after the contract has been approved and signed by client and Dan Gronwald.

Revisions

Project as outlined above includes an initial presentation of project, with two rounds of revisions between client and Dan Gronwald. Any additional rounds of revisions will increase the time needed to complete the project and incur extra expense for client at Dan Gronwald’s hourly rate of $65/hr.

Maintenance

For clients who don’t have the in-house time, staff or desire to execute updates and changes to the web site, or who just want that extra little bit of insurance that there will always be someone to turn to for help and a quick fix, I offer web site maintenance services, including:

• Textual edits and content updates (graphic or text content provided by client)
• Management of media assets (e.g. digital downloads, photos, videos, podcasts, etc.) provided by client
• Creation of additional templated content pages with menus, links, and other components
• Creation of input forms, shopping cart, blog, email marketing/list management and other installed components
• Social media strategy and integration
• Review of base system software and associated plug-ins for upgrades and application of upgrades as needed.

I offer two different kinds of maintenance packages: a la carte and monthly. Pricing and details available upon request.
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Mission

My primary mission is to provide efficient, effective Internet solutions to help organizations and individuals grow to the next level—intelligently designed in anticipation of tomorrow’s growth.
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Philosophy

Good technology solutions should be simple, streamlined, and transparent to the end user. You want the right tools for the right purpose, not a fancy plate full of bells and whistles that you’ll never use. And when you’re ready for more, you want to be able to just snap on the new piece, not re-design from scratch.

I believe in educating and empowering users around technology. I specialize in robust, flexible content management systems that “regular people” can be taught to use. I’ll build you a sleek, attractive, high performance vehicle, but then I’ll hand you the keys and teach you how to drive it.

I believe in long-term relationships and superb customer service. I always operate at the highest level of integrity and honesty possible. Repeat business and delighted customers who refer their friends and colleagues are the benefits I consider win/win.
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About Dan

Building on 16 years of in-the-trenches work in software development, Internet technology, business development, and social media, Dan Gronwald bridges the gap between technology and humanity.

He has been involved with design and maintenance of software systems for the pharmaceutical industry, as well as computer consulting for corporations, small businesses and nonprofits. He was project manager for a team of developers in Wales, UK and lived there for two years. At his last computer project he spent time as a database manager, programmer, website designer and overall “office tech guru”.
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