Planning yourwebsite

Planning a new website can be confusing. It's common not to know what you want. That's OK, because with our help you will. So sharpen your pencil, grab a fresh cup of coffee and let's get started.

Why do you need a website?

This is not as stupid a question as it first looks. Begin with what you want the website to do and record your objectives for the finished website e.g.:

• Generate sales enquiries
• Raise brand awareness
• Reduce the time / spent for each enquiry
• The website is your business - such as an online store or an online magazine

Know the enemy

Your website will always be in competition with others. By looking closely at what your competition has done you can learn a lot that will save you hassle in th e future. Find and list these competitors - try asking a outsider to search for services similar to yours. Try search engines, press, online directories, Yellow pages and anything else relevant to your field. Make a note of the parts of their website that you like, and that you think work well. Note also the features that annoy you, or that you believe impede the message of the site.

Some things to look for:

• What impression does the design of the graphics make on you?
• Is it easy to get around the site?
• Did the features work well when you tried them?
• Does the site excite you and make you want to come back again?

Know your audience

Avoid the trap of being too vague. A lot of people tell us that 'anybody is my audience' - to which we reply that anybody is not everybody. Narrow it down to realistic groups. As with any business venture, knowing who your customers are is half the battle won.

It’s important to establish just who you intend as the audience for your website. Is it for the use of existing customers, or is it a method of growing your customer bas e? Perhaps it will be a mix of both. You should also consider the geographic location of your audience, as your website will gene rally be accessible from anywhere in the world.

Time and Budget

The budget is often a sensitive topic between developers and their clients, usually because the client wants to establish the ‘real’ cost of a feature before revealing how much they have to spend.

The problem lies in the huge variability between the quality and scope of a possible solutions. We will bring all such questions out in the open for frank discussion. This usually results in a range of alternatives being produced, so that the best solution can be found for the budget available.

When do you expect the project to be finished by? Try to establish a range of dates for each stage of the process and allow plenty of time for full testing of the system be fore it goes live. Once again, it’s about communication and making your needs known to your developer.