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Developing_Your_Website_10_Tips_for_Getting_Started
| Developing Your Website: 10 Tips for Getting Started
1. Be clear on your purpose.
Building a website can be a long and arduous procedure if you
are not sure what you are doing. However, if you have a clear
focus as to what you expect your website to do for your
business/organization, things will flow much more smoothly. The
purpose can be anything from selling widgets online to keeping
members of your soccer team updated. Regardless, figure that out
before setting sail on your journey.
2. Establish your target audience.
Your target audience will affect what sort of content your site
includes as well as how it will look and function. Obviously,
writing for kids will be much different than writing for adults.
For business websites, a narrow and specific target market, will
not only make it easier for you to market your product or
service, it will also make it easier for customers and clients
to find you.
Also, consider how many graphics and "bells and whistles" you'll
want. If your audience is not very computer literate and
generally includes people with slow Internet connections, it
doesn't make sense to include large, slow-loading graphics,
animations, and video clips. You want your site to be user
friendly and don't want your visitors to leave because they've
become frustrated with the navigation or because your website
loads too slowly. Conversely, if your audience is the younger
generation, including flashy graphics and other "fun" elements
might be more appropriate and even necessary to grab their
attention.
3. Determine your budget.
One can spend anywhere from $99 to $10,000+ dollars on having a
website developed. Your purpose should help you decide on your
budget. Remember, a website should ideally be a work in
progress. Don't worry if you can't do everything you want with
it initially — you can always add to it later, and it will work
better for you and your customers if you keep it up-to-date and
fresh.
4. Assess the value of your time.
Many people have undertaken to create their own websites,
especially with the advent of desktop publishing programs.
Still, they expend a huge amount of time and energy and end up
unsatisfied with the results. While it may be true that "anyone"
can design a website, the same could be said about any type of
work. If it takes you hours and plenty of frustration to cut
your own hair, wouldn't you be better off going to a barber or
hairdresser?
If you have a flair for design, feel confident in your writing
and marketing skills, and have the time, knowledge, and passion
to build your own website, go for it! If your time would be more
productive doing your own work and contracting out the web
creation, that might be worth considering.
5. If hiring a professional website designer, make sure you
are comfortable working with him/her.
Do you feel he or she understands your vision? Does he or she
provide useful ideas and solutions you hadn't thought about?
Have you looked through his or her past work? Do you feel like
you're getting professional service? Is the price right for your
budget? What is included in the fee you will be paying?
6. Think about how you'd like the website to look and
function.
Often you will have a logo and/or other graphics you'd like to
build a design around. You probably have some colour and style
preferences. Perhaps a certain font has caught your eye. If
you're stumped and lacking ideas, go surfing! Look through a
wide variety of websites — both your competitors' and other
successful businesses/ organizations. Write down (or bookmark)
the sites you like and what appealed (or didn't appeal) to you.
Do the same with magazine ads. You'll get a lot of inspiration.
7. Organize and formulate a layout for the information you'd
like to include.
Assign page names to each distinct "chunk" of information and,
if the total number of pages is sufficiently high (over 12, as a
rule of thumb), group them into sections. This will make
navigating through your site that much easier. Your designer
should be able to make some recommendations in this area.
8. Make sure you understand the importance of effective
website copy (text).
Your website copy will be determined by your purpose and your
audience. On the Internet, people have very short attention
spans. If they don't get the information within a few seconds
they'll usually move on to the next website — possibly your
competition's. Furthermore, the more you know about writing web
copy, the more customers you will draw in. You can learn some
basic copywriting skills yourself, or you can hire a
professional copywriter to write it for you. Always make sure
you know what you want to say and say it concisely. If you have
the need for a lot of text that can always follow further down
the page or on another page.
9. Choose a domain name and find a hosting company.
Your website will need to reside somewhere so that others will
be able to access it. And, you'll probably want to register a
domain name, such as www.mybusiness.com. Doing so rather than
using the long, awkward name (and free web space) provided by
your Internet Service Provider (ISP), sounds much more
professional and is much easier for customers to remember.
Choosing a good domain name can also help you get found in
search engines, such as Google. You'll also get related email
addresses, such as info@mybusiness.com, which, again, sound
professional and reinforce your domain name. There are plenty of
hosting companies out there at a variety of prices. Find one
that suits your needs. Your web designer or marketing consultant
should be able to help you with all of the above.
10. If you have a business website, develop a strategy on how
you will market it.
Having a website without visitors will get you nowhere. An
analogy is writing a fantastic book, hiding it in the library,
and not telling anyone about it. You will need to drive traffic
to your site. There are numerous ways to do this. You can either
learn to do this yourself, or hire a marketing professional to
help you. Although hiring someone will increase your initial
costs, it can pay off in the long run when you have more
potential customers visiting your site, and ultimately
increasing your sales.
© Juliet Austin & Nathaniel Richman, 2005.
About the author:
Juliet Austin and Nathaniel Richman assist professionals,
businesses and organizations in designing and promoting websites
that get results.
http://www.nrichmedia.com http://www.julietaustin.com http://marketingaprivatepractice.com
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