In April of 2023, we proudly launched another website project, this time for renowned coach and professional trainer, Philip Haywood. In this blog post, we'll take you through the various stages of the project, from the initial discovery call to the final handoff, detailing the services we provided, including logo design, website design, and development, as well as graphic design, copywriting, and technology consulting.
About the Client
Coach Philip Haywood is a highly respected football coach, speaker, author, and professional trainer with a remarkable career spanning over four decades. Known for his unwavering dedication and passion, he has touched countless lives, both on and off the field. As a talented author, Haywood shares his life experiences, insights, and values in his book "Faith, Family, and Football," inspiring readers with his journey and commitment to personal growth.
The Website Design Process
The Discovery Call
We were referred by a fellow website builder as Philip's project seemed to need a bit more advanced work than they were comfortable taking on. We started with a Discovery Call. This is where we get a sense for the client's goals, what's currently working for them, what pain points they'd like remedied, and if we would be a good fit for the project. We discussed Coach Haywood's branding needs, his budget, and timeline.
Logo Design
After starting the project, we needed to nail down branding. Coach Haywood needed a logo and we were here to help. We worked out some ideas, made some updates on his feedback, and then settled on a logo that reflected his brand. Part of the branding process is the logo, but there's also typography choices, colors, and brand voice. The final logo design shows Coach's initials "PH" followed by a trophy topped with a Football. The type is strong and symmetric, while the ball is pointing up and to the right, indicating a growth trajectory. We chose red as the color since Coach's long-time high school team are the Belfry Pirates, and their color is red, but also because red signifies passion, energy, determination, leadership, and confidence – a perfect combination of traits for a leadership coach.
Website Design
The design of a website is not just graphics and layout. It's about framing the content in a way that makes it easy to consume content. Some key points to consider are:
- User Flows – how people reach the website and find the content they're interested in depending on what they're intent is.
- Information Architecture – how you organize pages and the content within each page to best present the information you want to convey.
- Accessibility – ensuring the content on a webpage is usable and inclusive for people with varying abilities and disabilities.
We made sure to cover all the information Coach Haywood wanted to present to his users in a professional and easy to consume way.
Website Development
After the designs were completed, we moved on to building the website. This included picking the right content management system for his needs. We chose Ghost CMS due to the following reasons:
- Simplicity: Ghost CMS offers a clean, user-friendly interface, making it easy to create and manage content without extensive technical knowledge.
- Content-first design: Ghost CMS prioritizes content creation and presentation, which is ideal for showcasing Coach Haywood's stories, insights, and services.
- Performance: Built on Node.js, Ghost CMS is known for its fast-loading pages and optimal performance, ensuring a smooth experience for site visitors.
- SEO-friendly: Ghost CMS comes with built-in SEO features that help optimize content for search engines, potentially increasing visibility for Coach Haywood's website.
- Customization: With its open-source nature, Ghost CMS allows for a high degree of customization, enabling Coach Haywood to create a unique and personalized online presence.
- Scalability: Ghost CMS can handle increasing traffic and content as Coach Haywood's website grows over time, ensuring the site remains responsive and efficient.
Handoff
Once the website has been completed, all content has been placed into the content management system, and the website has been thoroughly tested, we launch the site. After launch, we have a hand-off call with the client to walk them through how to make changes to their site, what's hard-coded and what they can make edits to, what things to look out for, and how to reach us if they need further assistance. We invited Coach and a couple of his colleagues to join the call so we could address any questions they had. We also provided a recommendation on some next-steps based on some features that were out of scope for the initial launch but we future needs for Coach's business model. We make sure to record our hand-off calls so the client can reference the video and audio as a reminder on how to use their new website admin section.