Tuesday 5 March 2013

5 questions you should answer for a successful website!

Quite often busy business people ask me for a website without really thinking things through.  So when we sit down for a chat with them, before we start any project, clients often find there were many things about their website that had simply not crossed their mind.

To make things easier it is often best to start with a blank sheet of paper.

Literally. 

Write down the answers to a few basic questions,as follows:
  1. What do I want this website to do?
  2. How much do I want to spend?
  3. What should I call my website?
  4. Who will update my website?
  5. What happens if my business changes?
Let's look at these questions in more detail.

What do I want this website to do?

You need to be clear about what you need the website to do before you design it.  Will it sell items?  Will it promote a business?  Will it communicate with customers?  Only by having the aims of the website clearly in mind can the website designer recommend solutions.

How much do I want to spend?

Do you want a Ferrari or a Fiesta?  It's important to be realistic about what your budget is so that your designer can choose appropriate methods of implementing your website.  Sometimes its necessary to compromise to reach a budget figure, but it's a good idea how much that is.

What should I call my website?

The name of your company may not be the most beneficial name for your website, especially where there is a lot of competition.  Consider a domain name (website address) which contains your type of business, and the locality where you live.  For example "peterhead-taxis.co.uk" or "fraserburgh-fishandchips.co.uk".  These domains often rate quite well in Google,as long as the content of the website matches the domain name of course.

Who will update my website?

If you want to save money long term then speak to your designer about CMS or Content Management Systems.  This will allow you to change content, usually text and photos, yourself on your website.

To find out more about CMS take a look at http://www.enterprisedesign.co.uk/cms.html

Of course if you would prefer the designer to take responsibility for updating the website to give you more time to run your business then explain this to them, usually websites without CMS are cheaper than those with.

What happens if my business changes?

Change is the first rule of business. Consequently you need to know that your website design is flexible and adaptable.  Can pages be added?  Can new features be integrated?  It's important to find that out before the website is designed.

Contact me at graham@enterprisedesign.co.uk if you need more help.









4 comments:

  1. Correct! I just can't get why people think that creating and managing a website is easy. But, as soon as they get deeper, they'll realize that they've just wasted their precious time creating one. Creating a website varies on many different important factors such as domain name, web design, logo, friendly navigation, content, and more. These are all important for one website, and they must have the elements that can capture the heart of an individual.
    - Wendie Vincent

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  2. Hello there, my friend! I do hope you wouldn't mind me adding some basic questions about your list. What’s important for one to know for a website is its niche and the target audience itself. Including the keyword or phrase you're about to target. These two are the biggest factors to tackle before building a website. By the way, your blog entries here are so informative. I'm definitely bookmarking it, so I do hope you keep me posted. Thank you!
    - Nathanial Heim

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  3. Aside from those five questions, learning, planning, organizing, and commitment are the main characteristics needed for making a successful website. Why the needs of these characteristics? Basically, we need to LEARN how to make one website becomes successful. Learning all the aspects and fundamentals on how each element works is very essential. Also, knowing programming languages such as HTML, is a plus factor to make one website more successful. Why plan? Planning is for everything. In order to win a battle, one must plan a good strategy to win the game. For website design, it's very important to plan on your layout. Navigation must be accessible, and so as its categories. Why organize? Simply because being organized makes one’s work become more professional. Being organized is clean, and being organized will make it easier to navigate your site. Why commitment? Being committed will help you improve your work. Plus, it will be beneficial in the long run, for you'll be able to explore more strategies and techniques on how to be more successful.
    - DigitalSynergy.com

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  4. An Aberdeen website needs an understanding of the local business situation and I believe you understand that

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