Thinking Of Getting A Website – Remember To Plan!

For many people or businesses the thinking around websites goes like this: “Okay, so now I have a business, what’s next, hmm, maybe I need a website”. The next thing you know they are either going out there trying to design their own or searching Google for Web Design firms.

What’s wrong with this natural next step you may ask? Well, it is simply that the person in the example above did not think through their website. Often they will start designing the website or hiring the Web Design firm and give them a mandate of “please design a website for us”.

When hiring a web designer, of course, your chances are much improved of getting a properly designed an thought out website than going at it yourself, but you do get web designers that are just in it for a quick buck and that will quickly put together, even a great-looking website, but with very little substance. Such a site is just as good as not having a site at all.

So, what should you do when you’re considering a website? Take a look at some of the guidelines below. They are not the be-all and end-all of web design, because there is so much more involved in designing an effective website, but they will at least provide you with some direction as a person who may not be an expert in web design.

1.  Do I even need a website?

Yes, that’s right, while a website can be a huge asset, not all types of businesses need one or are geared for one. So for example, a roadside exhaust repair service that is a totally informal business will not need a website, because of the nature of the business and the cost involved in getting and maintaining a website.

2.  What type of business do I have?

This is a very important question to ask yourself and it involves a number of sub-questions as well. So for example, you need to look at your clientele – what type of customer do you cater for, are they advanced, educated people or lower end consumers? Are they likely to browse the web, looking for the best deal or to find a service such as yours closest to home?

3.  What type of product or service do you offer?

Is it a physical product or an electronic product, or a service? For electronic products you undoubtedly need a website, but for certain physical products your chances of needing a website are less than for certain services for example.

4.  When you’ve established who your potential clients are and what type of business you have, it is time to think of the site content.

What is it that you want to convey to these customers? People surfing the web are looking for information primarily. It could be information on a topic, or information on a product or service. So the first focus of any website should be to provide information and not just generic information, but proper, valuable information on the topic the browser is looking for.

Information is foremost, so first give the information and then ask the client to buy, or interweave the sales pitch into the information in a natural way.

When you’ve established what information it is that your clients are looking for, now you can start looking at the contents of your website. While most websites follow a basic formula, having tabs such as Home, About, Products / Services and Contact, your site might not benefit from such a generic structure.

To take an example, some of the most successful sales websites are one page sites. They simply contain a sales letter with lots of valuable information about the product or service and a link to the order page. If your product or service is suited to such a website then you should without a doubt follow this recipe and break away from convention.

Some websites may have the aim of providing information first and foremost and have sales only as a secondary goal. If this is your type of website, then a sales letter format will obviously not benefit you. For you, a website structured in such a way as to be more of an article archive might be the solution.

5.  When in doubt, consult a Web Design firm.

I have touched on this above, but since there is so much involved in building a website, sometimes it makes more sense to hire an expert. In the end a proper web designer can save you lots of time, money and frustration.

Make sure that you hire a reputable web design firm. Do your research, a top Google ranking does not necessarily impy a top web design firm. Ask to see examples of their work so that you can see if their style matches yours. Ask for some references and actually phone these references to find out if they were satisfied with the service they got.

If they have a portfolio page, you can click on examples of these websites and go the contact information to get more, independent references.

Look for a company that will supply you with a proper web design plan and make sure you agree on all aspects of the scope of the project. Look for a firm that will guarantee satisfaction.

While web design and designing a proper website is a vast and complex field, if you keep in mind some of the above hints and tips you may find that you are more likely to get what you need, instead of a pretty website without much substance that you want.

Rian Schoeman

SilverFox Web Design