This is a question facing many people when they decide to launch their business onto the internet. It doesn’t matter if you are a one person operation working from home or a large company who has multiple offices, there are a number of key questions you should ask yourself before approaching a website design company.

The first question that needs to be asked is a simple one but the most important. Why do I need a website and what do I want it to do? Many people will answer straight away; “Well I would like an ‘About Us’ page, maybe a ‘Contact Us’ page and a few other pages like other sites have… you know.” This response is akin to telling a builder that you’d like a house with walls and a couple of doors scattered throughout the house.

What you need to consider are questions like these:

What would you like your website to look like?
The first step we always suggest to clients is to look around at other sites you like and take note what it is you like about them. We suggest you look at sites both within and outside of your industry. Once you do find a few appealing sites, ask yourself: Is it the color scheme, the menu, the horizontal or vertical layout etc that appeals.

Other areas to look at are any materials, logos or corporate colors you already have and use for your business.

A lot of money can be saved if you are clear about the look you want rather than wanting to make significant changes later when the development of your new website is well underway. Building a website is not dissimilar to designing a house. It is easy for an architect to add a new room to their plans while they are in the conceptual stage, but once the house is built and the structure laid down, adding a new room is a big and costly problem. The same goes for websites, large structural changes are easily done in the initial design process but become costly if requested when all the foundations have been laid.

Do you want to attract new customers with your website?
This is a must if you will be marketing your business/website. When potential clients hit your website for the first time you’ll want your website, and more importantly, your homepage set out in a way that presents important information about why your business is different to your competitors as well as a few well placed ‘Calls to Action’.

Treat your homepage the same way you would speed dating. You only have limited time and space to communicate your best features as well as why you are more attractive than the next competitor.

Is your website purely an online information source for current clients?
This is often seen as the opposite of the first question, however, they often work hand in hand on well built websites. Many businesses have a lot of information or new products that can be helpful to both existing clients and new ones. However, if you believe many visitors will be coming to your website searching for information rather than a service you provide, then it is important to know prior to their arrival what they’ll be wanting and then, secondly, have a great navigation system that allows users to easily find what they are looking for.

Do you want your website to be interactive?
Some websites are purely for the user to absorb information while others have interactive components, be it survey’s, games, filtering of content to customise their experience etc. Do you want your website to offer interactive components?

Will you need a Content Management System (CMS)?
Many sites have the requirement to frequently update their content. Be it information, sporting results, news releases or otherwise it can be very expensive to employ a company or contractor to continually make these updates for you at their hourly rate. A better option in this scenario is to have a content management system tailored to your requirements that allows you to maintain your own site..

Think about sections that you would like to be able to update regularly or processes that currently take you a lot of time that might be able to be automated or made easier via the use of a CMS.

Not every site requires a CMS. Consider at length whether you have the time and resources to continually update the content on your site. If the answer is no then you shouldn’t waste your hard earned on a CMS.

Will you have a need for video?
A lot of websites these days feature video. There are many different ways video can be delivered through your website and in order for the best strategy to be implemented you need to decide the nature of your video requirements. Will your videos be continually changing, will they be lengthy, or short and punchy? Do you want them to be readily available to the world or available only to registered members?

Will you be selling products through your website?
While many websites have the purpose of creating more business and income, not all sites require or want their products to be sold online. Selling through your website can be as simple as having a downloadable order form or it could be as complex as an online store complete with a shopping cart, dozens of products with purchasing and delivery options.

Do you want your website to collect, organise and analyse data for you?
It is very important these days to monitor your website’s performance and then in turn tweak various elements based on the statistics to help achieve the various goals you have. This is a double edged sword though. There are so many different statistics which can be gathered from a website that it can become daunting and confusing. The key is to identify goals for your website, such as selling products, and then gear your statistics analysis so that you can focus on ways to achieve those specific goals.

Now just because you know about a lot of functionality now, such as shopping carts or video, it doesn’t mean that your site should have them. In most cases the old saying of ‘less is more’ is also applicable to websites. Because something might be cool doesn’t mean it will make your clients’ experience better or faster. The focus should always be “how can I help the client find what they are looking for and intersect that with the goals for my website as quickly and efficiently as possible”.

In short, a web designer can help you plan your website but it is you that needs to have a strong idea of what you want to achieve with your website if you want to have a successful internet presence.

Future articles will go into a bit more depth about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), choosing a website design company, content management systems and more.
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Tags: Website Design Costs, Website Help, Websites