Website Development - Know What You Want, First!

Author: Gerald Chait
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Want to waste thousands of dollars on your website development?
No?! Then make sure you figure out exactly what you want BEFORE
you approach a website development company.

It may seem like obvious advice, but in reality, many people
approach website development companies without first
formulating a clear web strategy, clarifying objectives and
expectations. This hasty sort of approach to website
development invariably costs the customer a lot of money - and
they end up with a website that doesn't meet their needs.

So how do you get the website that meets your requirements
within the budget you have? Plan, plan, PLAN!

Some of the questions you need to answer before embarking on
your website development:

1) Why do you need a website?
2) What kind of website do you need?
3) Who is your target audience?
4) How do you plan to attract visitors to the site?
5) What are some of the graphical design considerations?
6) Will the site target both domestic and international
visitors?
7) What is the visitor trying to achieve?
8) How will your website support or integrate with the rest of
your business?
9) What structural implications should you consider?
10) How will you update the content?
11) Who should you talk to about website development?
12) Who do you talk to about hosting your website?
13) What is your website development budget?

1) WHY DO YOU NEED A WEBSITE?
Websites are generally designed to support one or more of the
following objectives:

. provide information
. facilitate online transactions
. drive visitors to a physical location
. facilitate communication

Websites also support brand image and awareness. In today's
information-rich environment, customers are becoming far more
savvy and conduct thorough research prior to making decisions.
Having a good, informative and accurate website could mean the
difference between winning the client and not.

Websites are also extremely important for contact details as a
lot of readers refer to website as a quick reference.

What's more, a website provides 24x7 access, so your customers
and potential customers have access to the site outside of
normal business hours (ideal for supporting promotions, general
e-commerce and improving customer service).

2) WHAT KIND OF WEBSITE DO YOU NEED
Websites may be simply informational in nature or more complex
with transactional e-commerce shopping functionality. They may
even be designed to support Web 2.0 functionality such as BLOGs
and message boards, which can develop a community environment.

But always remember, your website needs to serve the needs of
the customers you're trying to attract and retain. Before
committing to the feature set of your website development, make
sure you can link every feature back to a customer need.

3) WHO IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Who is your typical reader? Think about your readers; are they
young or old, wealthy or poor, male or female, computer techies
or novices? Are your readers just researching or are they in
buy-online mode? Are they local or international, or both? Will
language be a barrier? Will font size be a consideration for
those with poorer eyesight?

Once you have ascertained who your audience is, you need to
design the website to suit that audience.

4) HOW DO YOU PLAN TO ATTRACT VISITORS TO YOUR WEBSITE?
Marketing your site is critical. It can be marketed
electronically using search engines such as Google, Yahoo and
MSN and/or offline using traditional advertising and promotions
strategies. It's important that you think about the marketing
strategy BEFORE website development, as it will impact the
website development process and the technology of the final
product. For example, do you plan to run Google AdWords or
banner ads? If so, will those ads need to relate to specific
landing pages containing enquiry forms, or would a single
landing page suffice? Will search engine-driven traffic be
important to you? If so, you'll need to ensure that your
website is designed and developed in search engine-friendly
way, and that your web copy is optimised for search engines.

5) WHAT ARE SOME OF THE GRAPHICAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS?
Many sites feature a large number of animations and GIF images,
which are distracting and poorly designed (in terms of colour
and fonts), and which add an unnecessary overhead to the page
(in terms of file size and speed of loading). A good website
has a balance of imagery and text. Try to be aware of things
like font size and how it might impact your readers. Colours,
fonts and alignments should be consistent from one page to the
next. The look and feel of a site needs to be simple and
consistent.

Similarly, background music, popups and Flash can be gimmicky
and annoying to visitors. Only include them if they are
appropriate to the needs of your audience.

As previously mentioned, your website needs to be more than
just a promotional tool; it should form part of your overall
marketing strategy. What looks great in print may not look good
online. Perhaps more importantly, it may not be user-friendly
(functional). So make sure you have a web designer involved in
the development.

6) WILL THE SITE TARGET BOTH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL
VISITORS?
Consider whether you have the infrastructure to support
international readers and clients. For example, if the site is
transactional and you are selling a product, do you have
international banking or credit card facilities and the ability
to deliver overseas?

If you're going to target international readers, it's important
that you make your website global. Consider the format of the
information you display and request (e.g. zip code versus
postcode, address formats and even phone number formats) and
the style, tone, word-choice and spelling of your copy. (See
www.divinewrite.com for more information on website
copywriting.)

Another important consideration which is often overlooked in
website development is scheduled maintenance. Scheduling
maintenance for midnight in your home country may cripple your
website during peak business hours in another.

Make sure you investigate the needs of your international
market(s) and adapt your website to suit those specific needs.

7) WHAT IS THE VISITOR TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
All website visitors want or need something. They may be
researching prior to purchasing a product, looking up company
details, or trying to pay an invoice. If you want to make your
site easy for visitors to use and if you want those visitors to
keep coming back, your website development MUST accommodate the
tasks that those visitors are attempting to perform.

8) HOW WILL YOUR WEBSITE SUPPORT OR INTEGRATE WITH THE REST OF
YOUR BUSINESS?
Websites can often offer services to support and integrate with
your business. For example, you might offer online shopping to
streamline the purchase, dispatch and accounts process
(including payment gateways, stock/inventory detailing, member
or client information, etc.). Alternatively your website can
increase the effectiveness of your marketing and product
support, by spotlighting your products with extensive
information and product catalogues, emailing product
information to opt-in recipients, allowing links back to the
manufactures (if applicable), etc. You might also set up an FAQ
section on your website and encourage your visitors to read this
area before contacting your office. A feedback form might also
reduce administration overhead by allowing your readers to
contact you and request more information, etc.

9) WHAT STRUCTURAL IMPLICATIONS SHOULD YOU CONSIDER?
With websites, less is more. The simpler the structure is, the
more user-friendly it is. It all comes down to navigation;
navigation is a website's lifeblood. A poor navigation
structure can destroy a user's experience, and damage your
online image.

Sections should be obviously grouped, both logically and
visually. This makes navigation intuitive. Create a draft site
plan before website development is commenced. Discuss it with
your designers and developers, work with them to evolve it,
then leave it with them to guide them through the website
development process. This will ensure that the visual and
functional elements of your website flow and make sense.

Structure and navigation are particularly important for larger
sites and e-commerce sites. With so much competition around,
your visitors will not be prepared to expend a great deal of
energy to unravel the mysteries of a poorly planned site.
Similarly, visitors are unlikely to become buyers if the
purchase process is confusing.

10) HOW WILL YOU UPDATE THE CONTENT?
It is imperative that you update the content on your site on a
regular basis. Outdated information is useless and impacts on
your credibility and professionalism. Conversely, regularly
updated content tells your readers that you're a proactive
organisation (and it also contributes to your ranking in the
search engines).

To reduce ongoing costs and retain control of your website,
consider the benefits of building it using a Content Management
System (CMS). A good CMS lets you easily manage all content
yourself, instead of paying your web developers to do it. (This
includes adding and editing copy and images, adding and deleting
pages, and adding and deleting functionality.)

11) WHO SHOULD YOU TALK TO ABOUT WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT?
This depends what you want from your website development and
how far your budget can stretch. Is the site intended for the
short or long term? Will content need to be updated? Do you
need e-commerce, email management / e-newsletters, etc.? There
are many people who build websites and numerous approaches to
take.

Important considerations when selecting a website development
company include:

. Do they have proven website development experience?
. Are they familiar with the latest developments?
. Do they have support networks or personnel should they run
into problems?
. Are they qualified?
. Can they provide ongoing website development support?
. Do they have access to graphic designers?

It's best to find an established website development company
with a solid infrastructure and qualified staff, who can speak
with you plain English, listen to all your requirements and
develop a plan that suits your needs. Also remember to select a
website development company that you feel comfortable dealing
with.

12) WHO DO YOU TALK TO ABOUT HOSTING YOUR WEBSITE?
Your website development company should be able to suggest a
hosting company, but if not, there are a multitude of companies
listed on the Internet and in the Yellow Pages.

When considering website hosting companies, obviously you need
to ensure that they are appropriate for your budget. You need
to know that they have adequate security both via the web
(antispam, antivirus, etc.) and in their actual physical
environment (locks, alarms, etc.). You need to know that they
use hardware and software that is modern and appropriate for
the job.

Do they have a proactive backup / business continuity /
disaster recovery strategy, and the necessary software and
hardware to support it? And do they engage in scheduled
maintenance? You need to know that they are operating an
environment that is designed to minimise the likelihood of
fire, flood, theft, hardware failure, overheating, etc. But, if
the server hosting your site does, in fact fail (or is stolen or
destroyed), will your website be unavailable? Some hosting
providers offer uptime guarantees, which is great, but don't
assume this means that nothing will ever go wrong and your
website will never go down.

Also, consider bandwidth (how fast can they display your
website files). Few things are more frustrating to visitors
than slow-to-load pages, and your host can play a big part in
this.

13) WHAT IS YOUR WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT BUDGET?
Many businesses try to cut costs by engaging a student,
unqualified staff employee or friend to build their website.
Think carefully before pursuing this option, because you get
what you pay for. You'd most likely be trading-off visual
aesthetics, reliability, stability, speed, ease of use, search
engine-friendliness, and ongoing technical support. When it
comes to website development, short-term cost-cutting does not
always equate to long-term savings or return on investment.

Having said that, you should always be realistic. Consider what
sort of return on investment you require (and how quickly), and
set your budget accordingly. Then stick to your budget. If you
need to cut costs, start with the 'bells and whistles' that may
not be necessary. Flash, for instance, adds significant cost to
your website development, yet is considered annoying by many
visitors and may reduce your search engine-friendliness.


About The Author: Gerald is GM, Sales & Marketing of Software
Design Group (SDG): Website Development, Design, Search Engine
Optimisation, Network Support, Outsourcing Solutions, Help Desk
Support, Application Development, Hardware & Software Sales.
Gerald.chait@sdgtechnology.com.au or
http://www.sdgtechnology.com.au

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