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Print This Page | Back to Previous Page A Beginner's Guide to Getting OnlineContents
Where Do You Start?There is no doubt that for the uninitiated the prospect of getting a good website online can seem a daunting one. This article gives a brief overview of the main elements involved in building a successful site, with a few definitions included to familiarise you with the 'jargon'. We are more than happy to discuss all aspects of your planning with you, without obligation, so if this is bogging you down, just give us a call! Now, let's get cracking! Pieces of the Puzzle - A ChecklistThere are a few absolute necessities that you must be aware of and have in place before your site can be unveiled to the world!
Creating Your PlanWho will use the site?It is very important early on in the planning stage to decide who is likely to use your site. The approach to a site that will be used primarily by staff or suppliers is quite different to one that will be used by the general public, and a site aimed at a very defined niche market will differ from one that needs to have more general appeal. It is still common to go to a site and find pages of information about the history of a company, complete with wonderful photographs of the MD and all the board. This may polish up a few egos but will not really be the primary interest of, say, someone wanting to buy a T-Shirt! If your site is aimed at several different interest groups - perhaps retail customers, wholesale customers, potential overseas agents etc - it is a good idea to start grouping information in a way that reflects this. Think about what information each user will want and group it in a way that makes sense from that perspective. What will it Contain?The temptation is to throw the lot at a site, to get together every last piece of literature you have about your business or organisation and put it online. There are even times when this is appropriate, but not many. Having said that it is a good idea to get together as much information about your organisation as you can when starting the web project, and to consult with as many people as possible in your organisation about what they think the site should contain. As early as possible, you should try to get together the following materials and ideas:
Try to get any materials for the site which are not currently in electronic form into word processor or spreadsheet format. Web designers make horribly expensive typists! Be prepared for the fact that a lot of the stuff you gather will not end up on the site at all. Material intended for print is often unsuitable for online use, but it is an excellent starting point and gathering it will focus your mind on what is required. What Will it Do?There is little limitation on what is possible on a website, so think about how you might use it to improve and enhance your relationship with your customers. For example could you send out a regular newsletter to customers? Or allow staff to upload and download documents from a staff only area? Perhaps you want to sell goods online, provide online quotes, take reservations or provide live customer service. Consider all the ways in which you might include functionality, you do not have to use them all in the end but brainstorming on this one can be most useful. A site that 'does' something will always be more useful that one that just sits there! How Will it Be Maintained?Getting a site online is only the start. If the site is not updated, added to and kept fresh, then it can quickly become outdated and uninteresting. Changing prices or specifications, adding news or new information, providing regular articles or uploading files for users to download, changing or adding images - the list goes on. Make a list of the sort of information that may change or need to be added to the site on an ongoing basis. Add a note after each item on this list indicating about how often this information is likely to need updating. The amount, frequency and nature of updating that is required will affect the choice of how you will maintain the site. In some cases it may be easiest to outsource all maintenance. In others setting up a comprehensive but easy to use content management or shopping cart system at the outset, allowing the tasks of updating to be completed in-house, may quickly prove more cost effective. How Will People Find it?You also need to consider at this point how you will let people know about your site. A common mistake is to assume that just because you have a site, people will find it. Bearing in mind that there are literally billions of web pages online, this is simply not true. When creating a budget for your site you need to allocate at least half the budget and perhaps more to initial marketing of the site, which will include getting it into search engines and some early advertising. If the site is to succeed there also needs to be some ongoing plan for marketing and a budget to fit this plan.
If you manage to work your way through that list, you will have made a really good start on creating not just a website, but a successful one that will enhance your image, widen your marketing reach and be a real success on every level. But it is only a start - now the real work begins! Related InformationContact Us
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