A well-planned web site has:

1.      a definite purpose and function/s making it useful to you and your site visitors

2.      clear navigation / links - visitors never wonder how to get to another page or section

3.      reasonably fast load times - no-one enjoys waiting for sites to download

4.      a structure designed with updates and/or expansion in mind - you will almost always change or add to your site after it is first "finished".

5.      a marketing plan

 

How do you plan your website? 

Simply - with pen and paper. I have put a few starter questions together, listed below.  Chat these over with your business partner/s group members.  Do some brain-storming. Write down your thoughts and responses – even those that may seem a little way out.  (You don’t HAVE to answer every point – this is creative thinking, not exam time!)

Your thoughts become your road map to your finished site, and helps me to create the site YOU want that suits YOUR business/group.  And if you just don’t ‘get’ something?  Make a note and bring it up at our next consultation.

Your site visitors

·         Who will be visiting my site? 

·         Do they have any special needs e.g. isolation, language – that should influence the site design?

·         Why are they visiting?  What are they looking for?  What do they need?

 

My site service

·         How can I give them what they want?  How will I make this EASY for them?

·         How can I give them even more than they expect? (WOW factor)

·         Are there any benefits to visitors of using my site? What about existing clients?

·         Will I sell products and receive orders through the site?  Do I have the systems set up to deal with this?

  

Promoting my site (absolutely essential)

·         Do I have a plan to get people visiting my site?

·         How will I market my site?  How will I let people know my domain name?

·         How can I use my website to maximize existing advertising that I do?

·         Will I rely on the Search Engines, or will I use e-mail and targeted advertising to increase interest and get visitors? Will I look at getting repeat customers using existing address details?

·         Am I committed to seeing if my advertising is effective and trying new things until I find what works best?

  

Saving time and money with my site

·         How can I use the site to cut down on some administrative tasks? What information will I put up that will save time ‘explaining’ on the phone? Can I streamline orders/bookings through the site?

·         How much time and effort am I prepared to spend maintaining and updating the site? Is it more cost effective to out-source this? 

 

Site appearance

·         Do I have any ideas on what I want the site to look like (think of colours, pictures, text, 'feel'). 

·        Are there any ideas I have seen on other web sites that I want to adapt and use on my site?

Last Updated ( Monday, 13 July 2009 07:43 )