10 Ways to Save Time & Money on Your Site
Determine your goals
First, consider your business goals for your web site: Do you want to promote new products, increase sales leads, or collect customer email addresses? Next, determine what your customers will want from your site. Will they be coming to your site to make purchases, look up directions to your office, research your products, or compare your prices to the competition's? Your website can be as simple as a reference for contact information, or as complex as a fully customizable e-commerce site. Looking at your site from both the business perspective and the user's point of view will ensure a site that works for everyone.
Define the scope of your project
To get an accurate bid you must clearly define any needs beyond design. Consider whether you will require additional services such as logo design, copywriting, search engine optimization, or database programming.
Take care of business
If you're going to have e-commerce on your site, you'll need to take care of a few administrative chores beforehand. We'll help you set up a merchant account and security certificate so you can accept credit cards or other forms of payment online.
Know thyself
Think about what's appropriate for your site and your industry. Global or local? Conservative, or cutting-edge? Before you meet with your designer, try to identify some other sites that clearly define image you would like for your own site. Also, keep the typical users of your site in mind. Are they business owners and CEOs looking for no-nonsense content? Or are they tech-savvy gamers who want snazzier graphics and a more interactive experience?
Have your content ready
Get your content finished early. Give your web designer a copy of your logo, artwork, and photos, and have all text for your site written ahead of time. Whenever possible, your content should be in electronic format.
Avoid unnecessary frills
Resist the urge to use Flash, music, or video unless it's appropriate for your image, desirable to your users, and in line with your business goals. Adding multimedia can be both expensive and time-consuming, so consider carefully whether these elements will increase the value of your site to your users.
Plan for growth
It's easier and cheaper to add to a Web site if you plan ahead. If you expect to expand your site in 6 months to a year, be sure to ask your web designer to help make it easy for you to add in new sections instead of retrofitting or starting from scratch.
Have a team leader
If more than one person in your organization will be involved with your web project, you can avoid delays and confusion by streamlining communication. Assign one person as the primary contact for your web designer.
Integrate your site with your marketing program
Your traditional marketing programs should integrate smoothly with your online efforts. The look and feel of your web site doesn't need to match your print collateral exactly, but should maintain consistent branding. By creating "landing pages" you can also use your site to help test the effectiveness of your marketing messages.
Consider your maintenance needs
Will the content on your site change yearly, monthly, or daily? Think about whether you want to have updates handled dynamically or manually, within your organization or by a third party. Knowing this ahead of time can help determine the best way to structure your site.
