More thoughts you should have before starting a website
Here are some of the topics I cover in this article:
- Should everyone have a website?
- Does a website need a marketing campaign?
- Can you update a site yourself?
- How will site statistics be tracked?
- Do you already have a domain name and/or hosting service?
I was planning on writing about the basics of doing Search Engine Optimization for your web site this week, when I saw an interesting article on Site Pro News entitled “10 Questions to Ask Yourself
Before Designing a Website” written by Herman Drost.
Given that this ties in with my previous article on creating website content I have decided to post some comment on a few interesting points he made, in order to discuss this topic in some more depth. If you have not read my previous article, here it is How to write content for your website and make sure your design works.
1. Should everyone have a website?
The article does mention various ideas like making sure you know the purpose of your website and what you will be selling. Some of these seem almost redundant, but are still worth a mention. My opinion is that every company everywhere should have a website. It helps people to locate your service. I have often tried to reach a company that I know of, only to find that they have no website. That is business that they are losing. I would rather look for someone who has a site than open the yellow pages. It is the reality of the post-Googleworld we live in.
However, if you wish for your site to attract new customers, it is very important that your site is not just a relic sitting on a server somewhere containing the information you wrote 3 years ago and unchanged since.
2. Does a website need a marketing campaign?
The web needs an active marketing campaign like any medium.The campaign might not cost a cent, but time has to be spent on updating content, running a blog, or advertising your site through paid and free advertising on the web. Free advertising might include being active on blogs and forums in a way that attracts people to your business and to your expertise in the field. Also consider possibly having a Youtube channel with helpful videos etc. This can link back to your site.
Read my article coming in a week or two about Search Engine Optimisation to learn more about why updating your site is important and read my previous article to know how to structure that updated content effectively.
3. Can you update a site yourself?
Many clients wish to update their sites themselves to save costs. While I support this concept I have found that in most cases it does not work. Unless a client is making changes every second day or more often than that it is not such a great idea. Common ways to support this is to use a free online CMS(Content Management System), or to set up a blog(usually a WordPress blog).
Most clients tend to forget how to use the web interfaces for a CMS, or blog. The result is that the client will need to contact the developer, or designer in order to ask them how it works, or to ask them to do it for them. This defeats the purpose since the developer, or designer will bill you for that time and they will have to use a method of updating that actually takes them longer to use.
The drawbacks to using an online CMS is that it can take a very long time to make changes on various pages. In my experience this is frustrating for large scale updates, but great for small tweaks by clients.
So generally I find that paying a designer like me a small retainer to make changes, that are written and email-ed by the client, the most effective and productive way of keeping a site up to date.
4. How will site statistics be tracked?
It is important to track the number of visits a web page receives in order to keep it effective and do market research. New tools such as Google Analytics and Google webmaster tools allow us to view which search-keywords visitors use to reach the site and what countries they come from. Some services will even make suggestions about optimising your site’s HTML.
With regard to these services I feel the same way as I feel about clients updating their sites themselves. If a client is using this information daily it is worthwhile for them to do it themselves, but if a client only wants to check this information once or twice a year, it is better to pay the designer a retainer to mail them the screen shots they need. The chances of the designer having to instruct the client on how to do it are formidable and in most cases the designer will charge the client for that time. Clients often expect “little services” like these to be free, but at the end of the day no designer can make a living if they have many clients asking for services like these for free.
5. Do you already have a domain name and/or hosting service?
This is quite a simple question, but I have had many clients who are not sure. And in many cases clients who do have these in place can’t tell me whether the service includes PHP support, or other information that could influence the design process.
All things considered, the designer probably knows more about which services are inexpensive and provide the tools you and they need for the job. Even with a fee the designer might add for registration and time spent on admin, it is probably worth your while to let them sort out that part of the service.
Conclusion
Keep these points in mind when getting a site built and designed and when planning your site in order to help you run a successful site and reach your goals. Subscribe, or check back for my article about Search Engine Optimization within the next 2 weeks.
If you have not read my previous article, here it is How to write content for your website and make sure your design works.
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Tags: advertising your site, blog, keywords, optimising, optimizing, running a blog, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO, successful site, updating, updating content, updating websites, website, website content, writing content, writing website content, wrodpress, Youtube channel
