You have committed your time and money to creating a new website for your business. If you think all you need to do is to choose a web designer you would be wrong. If you want a website that’s highly successful there are plenty of things you need to do. Before you have your web designer builds your website, there is plenty to carefully plan, because if you plan poorly it’s going to cost you time and money, and you’ll be disappointed. Let’s look at 6 things you should consider.
- Establish the aim, target and theme of your website – What will you do on your website? Sell products/services, provide information, etc. You also need to know who your target market is because that will also determine what your theme will look like. If you want a site that’s successful, you need to know your target market.
- Know what it will cost – You will want to know how long it will take to launch your website and what the web design is going to cost you. You’ll also want to know what it will cost monthly if the web designer takes care of the monthly maintenance.
- Choose the right domain – You will want to give your domain name a great deal of thought to ensure you make the right choice, because once you have your domain it’s rather difficult to make a change. You should look for a domain name that is short and that people will easily remember.
- Who will design your site – You will likely have an ongoing relationship with your web designer so it is worth it to take your time and choose carefully. Find a professional web designer that you connect with, that understands your concepts and what you have in mind, and that creates websites that you like the look and feel of.
- What are your keywords – During the planning stage, you should spend some time researching keywords that visitors are currently searching for within your industry or product/service niche. Narrow down the keywords you are going to focus on and then make sure that these are targeted in your content and within your web design.
- Make sure your site is easy to navigate – You have seconds to connect with a visitor who lands on your site. If your website is hard to navigate and find your way around people will simply hit the back button and go elsewhere. So make sure that your web designer is developing a site that’s easy to use and navigate around.
There are tons of things you should consider before you settle down to the building stage with your web designer. These six things are a great place to start. Always have an open dialogue with your web designer – communication is key to seeing things progress smoothly with no surprises and no disappointments. You want to bring targeted traffic to your website and ultimately turn them into paying customers. Make sure you give the design phase the attention it deserves to meet your goal.