Organic Trade Association's HowToGoOrganic™.Com Web Site
A massive, easy-to-use database-driven web site. In instant essential for farmers and businesses

CLICK HERE TO BROWSE HowToGoOrganic™.Com.

Destined to be an instant class in the organic industry, HowToGoOrganic™.Com pulls together thousands of the best resources--web sites, experts, businesses, conferences and tradeshows, workshops, nonprofits, success stories, factsheets and more--on how to become an organic farmer or business. The resources are organized for easy access, whatever your prefered way of looking for information:

• A powerful keyword search allows you to look for a very specific piece of advice--how to manage soybean rust organically, or where to find organic pet food ingredients.
• A one-of-a-kind Regional Guide lets you browse for top resources, organizations, people and events in your own state and region ... where you live and work.
• The Pathways to Organic for Farmers and Processors take aspiring organic farms and businesses on a step-by-step tour of the resources they need to transition, get certified and learn the ins and outs of organic production and marketing.
• A Key Resources section collects the best of the best, and displays them by topic area--farming, business, marketing, etc.

How we developed this mammoth web site ...

Our development process involved four phases:

1. Discovery: During this phase, we worked with Organic Trade Association (OTA) staff to decide on the detailed structure and funcion of the site and the database. What categories would be used? What features would the site include (advertising, for example, and internal promotional elements).
2. Visual and Database Design: We provided OTA with over a dozen design variations to get the look and feel of the site exactly right. We also provided a detailed schema of exactly how the site and database would function.
3. Content Development: We researched thousands of web sites, seeking out the best resources--and wrote over 3,000 discrete listings for the database describing the resource and providing contact information. We also tagged each listing with up to 20 different category designations so that it would display properly in each of the four main sections of the site.
4. Site Development: Simultaneously, we built the site itself--both the front end seen by consumers/visitors, and the administrative backend which allowed for maximum control of the site and its organization.

Finally, we trained the OTA staff in the use of the content management system which allows them to update and add pages and images, as well as ads and internal promotions.