When starting out on a new web development or marketing project, what are some of the most important things you need to get started? Is it the designs? The idea? While these are great components to have and are certainly necessary, these are not the most vital parts to have to ensure your project runs smoothly and is a success.
Most people don’t think about this much, as it isn’t as obvious at first, but organization is the most important factor in a web development or marketing project. These projects require lots of precise coordination across different technical disciplines split between different companies to make it all come together and work as intended. This is no easy task to achieve, but it is doable.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Organization is the backbone of every successful project[/inlinetweet], so let’s give you some pointers on what areas to really focus on organizing before approaching a company to take on your web development or marketing project.
Accounts & Passwords
This seems so simple and so obvious. Your web developer Jim has all of the website logins, and Catherine from the marketing department has your Google Analytics info. What else do you need? This may seem fine to you, but on the other end of things, the development or marketing team is getting frustrated when each individual employee must request access to an account instead of everyone having access to the accounts they need to do their jobs. What happens when you update a password? Rinse and repeat. What happens when the development or marketing company needs access to one of your accounts that neither Jim nor Catherine have access to? This is only the tip of the iceberg.
This never-ending process gets very old very quickly and is why we recommend creating a Google Sheet for shared passwords. This enables your team to stay organized and ensure that you have all of the credentials that you need to login. This also keeps the development or marketing team up to date with passwords that they can reference anytime, even when you make a change. Depending on the size of your company or privacy policies you have in place at your company, you may have to resort to creating different spreadsheets for different access levels.
Make sure that everyone is included in this process. We can’t tell you how many times we have been told that we received all of the passwords we need only to find out months later that Jim already has accounts set up for something that we needed.
Download your own sample copy of our Web Credentials spreadsheet. Make sure you store this somewhere very secure, as it will expose all of your digital assets to anyone who has access to it.
Branding Assets
The next area to get organized is your branded assets. This will include things such as your logo files, stock images, templates for marketing materials, fonts, colors, and so on. Being prepared with your branded assets is a great way to start your relationship with the new developers or marketing team, letting them know you are serious and prepared.
If you skip this step, you are wasting everyone’s time. If you can’t provide them with the tools they need, how do you expect them to do their job? Do everyone a favor and get your branded assets in order.
Responsibilities
This sounds like an odd thing to organize, but again, this is vital if your project is to be successful. Knowing who is responsible for what and who should be contacted is liberating. No more confusion about knowing whether to call Jim, Catherine, or someone else. This stage is often part of the contract stage, but if it wasn’t covered then, ensure that you do this before the project gets started. Also, do not set up the responsibilities list and then not send it to anyone. Make sure that everyone involved in the project has a copy of this information.
This is not an exhaustive list of things you should have organized, but it does include the absolute essentials you should have prepared when going into a new web development or marketing project. The better you can be prepared with your own assets in order, the better chances you will have a successful project.
What other components or assets have you found are essential to have organized for your projects?