Having a website built for your business is a huge jump. It puts your business in a whole new league. But before you take that leap there are some things that you really need to consider and prepare for.
One of the biggest things that can hold up your new web project is actually you. Having the content ready to go, or a plan in place for how to get the content ready is important. But what else do you need to know? Let’s find out.
Your ideal client
It may seem like a pretty standard thing, but it is actually really easy to forget. You get busy helping give a direction for the site and fail to remember who the site is targeted towards. The site ends up as something you like but does not really speak to your clients.
When you are working with your designer, make sure you put yourself in your client’s shoes. What do they like? Do they have a specific style? Remember it’s your business, but your clients make it work. You also should think about the end goal of what you want them to do and how to guide them there.
In the end, you want your clients happy.
Branding
I see this one all the time. The look and feel of the website is a total 360 from the logo or store design. You want to have a unified look and feel of your entire brand. You don’t want people to feel confused.
When you are having a website built it is the perfect time to update any other parts of your brand. You could have a new logo designed and start using it on the site and your other materials. Every so often it is good to do a brand refresh. It helps you to keep a fresh and current brand.
Site speed and name
The domain name. It seems to be an afterthought 8 out of 10 times. But really it should be one of the first. This name will be splashed all over your marketing. On everything from business cards to banners. It should be easy to remember, and speak about your business name or brand. A domain name can be changed, but it is not as easy to do once you start showing in Google, you basically have to start from the bottom again.
Another key that is often overlooked is the living quarters of your website. The world demands fast and Google looks fondly on sites that load quickly for their users. A poor or budget host can make it that much harder to get to the top. And if the site takes too long to load then you could be losing potential clients left and right. A little extra time and money spent here could make a huge difference.
Maintenance & Security
Something else to consider is who will handle regular updates to the site. These updates are not only text and photos, but the overall site code. Many plugins and cores such as WordPress come out with regular updates. These updates can be critical to keeping your site functioning well.
Will you handle the content updates of the site or hire someone? If you are going to handle them, are you prepared for the time that it will take to keep up with the changes? A stale website will not help you to gain new business. If people come looking for information and it is always out of date they will leave, many times unhappy.
And while you are looking at updates, who will handle keeping your site secure? There are constant attacks happening all over the world on websites. And if your site becomes a victim you may end up on the hook for damages caused to others by your site. Not a good place to be. You could also lose traffic due to search engines blacklisting you.
Last but not least:
Content
I touched on this point before, but let’s dig a little deeper. Who will be responsible for writing the content of your website? Are you prepared to commit the time necessary to create it? Writing the content for a website can take a great deal of time. You need to make sure your content is well written and takes into account the feelings of your clients.
Every website needs photos. And there are many types of photos that you can use. Stock photos can either be free or paid photos that you can use on your website. These photos sometimes come with use limitations and other restrictions you need to pay attention too.
Another important type of photo is your own. These are always preferable to stock photos and are required when it comes to product photos. But not all photos are created equally. You will want to make sure that you have good high-quality photos in the proper formats. These can cost a chunk of money.
As long as you put some thought into these few things then you are ready to start on your web project. Each developer has a different time frame and might require different things such as content at different points in the process. But if you are prepared ahead of time, you can help make the time that your project will take be less.
