We said it before, and we will say it again. It is no longer good enough just to have a website which sits there and does nothing.
Today, your website is your core communication vehicle. No more can it be a freeloader, rather it needs to pay its way and support your business.
So you need to invest in it, show it some love, and constantly improve it.
Make it into a site that people love, and aim for (refer pic – geddit?)
Then it will start paying for itself in myriad ways.
When you start to plan your website design & development, it is vital to plan in detail. As you would create a set of plans for building a house, so you should develop a set of plans for building a website. Together with your web company, follow this process, and make it easier, with altogether better results.
If you want a website that people WANT to go to, and that they ENJOY using, then follow these 7 steps:
1. Understand your business. | So important. If you don’t understand your business, how can you tell anyone else about it?
2. Understand your customer, and talk specifically to them. | Who are your best clients? Why?
3. Create the site map. | By listening to your web expert, work out exactly how the site will be structured, make sure it is logical and user friendly, and that the clients can engage or purchase with total ease.
4. Design the website. | Here is the most important point of this article: avoid having a technical developer design your site. Have them build the site, by all means, but have a design expert create the look and feel. You wouldn’t have the brickie do the cabinet work, would you. If your designer asks you where you want the elements on the page, run away.
5. Develop the test site. | This is the opportunity to check everything – test the links, make sure the structure actually works, make sure the imagery and headlines are compelling enough. Oh, and load content and products…
6. Go live. | The technical stuff – load to hosting, load google analytics ( so you can tell how many hits you have had, and heaps more) and perform the final test.
7. Promote, promote, promote!
So, know the steps, understand the process, and have a website which contributes to your business success. Put in the effort now for a far more satisfying web creation experience which will last the distance.
A website which hits the target!
