You may be on your first website. But more likely you're faced with redesigning a website that isn't functioning as well as it should. I see 12 vital decisions involved with developing a website, and I want to explain them with you in mind:

  • You're the owner or marketing director of a small business and know that getting your website to pull its share of the load is vital for success. But your budget is severely limited!
  • You've just been assigned the task of redoing your company's website. Congratulations, now you can be blamed if things don't work well. :-)
  • You've volunteered to take on your church or organization website and make some sense out of it -- without offending the person who built it in the first place.
  • This time around you've decided to outsource the job, but you have no idea of how to supervise a design company to make sure it does what you need. Good luck!

I want to help. When I built my first website in 1995 at the very beginning of the commercial Web, I didn't have a clue how to proceed. In those days there was no one to guide me. I've made every mistake you can think of -- some more than once, I hate to admit.

Since then I've built and assisted with dozens of online stores and hundreds of websites for all kinds of businesses and organizations, from mom and pops to major corporations and international organizations. I don't design websites for others these days, but I actively develop and maintain my own site.

There are twelve critical places in building a website where you must make the right decision, or you'll have to repeat this task again and again until you get it right. I won't be talking about how to write HTML; I want to help you with the mindset, the basic approach. I want to take you by the hand and lead you through the critical decisions. The better you grasp these essential points, the better your website will work and the happier camper you'll be.

Okay, let's roll up our sleeves and get started. By the way, why don't you print out this document and then mark it up with your thoughts and ideas as you read. It's designed to serve as a worksheet to clarify your thinking and provide direction at various stages of the project. If you decide to outsource the project, you'll want to share a copy of your marked-up copy of this document with your website designer. Print it out!

1. Determine Your Website's Chief Purpose

When you begin a website, you must have your main purpose clearly in mind. I say this because it's easy to have conflicting purposes.

  • If you're a website design firm, you may want to show off your high tech goodies with your client's site as the showpiece.
  • If you're an employee stuck with this task, you may want to look good for your bosses and not do anything for which you can be blamed -- you've got to protect your backside.
  • If you're a volunteer, you may just want an excuse to tinker and be praised for it.
  • If you're a business owner, you probably care about the bottom line. You're wondering, How much this will cost? and Will it be worth it in the long run?

Dear friends, recognize your own needs -- they're legitimate. But to build an effective website, you've got to look at the business's or organization's needs and make those primary. From the organization's perspective, what must this website do in order to be successful?

Let's look at some common website purposes. Put an X next to all that apply.

  • Build your brand. Create an online brochure that will help potential clients, customers, and partners learn about your company and look at it in a favorable light. You're trying to enhance your brand or organization image. I've heard people disparage this kind of website as "brochure-ware." But this is very legitimate for some kinds of companies, especially local businesses or organizations that aren't trying to conduct national or international commerce. You want people to know who you are, what you do, where to find you, and how to contact you.
  • Provide product information to drive local sales of your products and services at dealer locations. Auto sites are a good example. Many manufacturers don't sell on their sites, but point people to retailers who carry their products.
  • Sell advertising. A few sites are designed to sell advertising -- Yahoo!, Google, and other portal sites are examples. But these days, there's far too much advertising space and not nearly enough money to fill it all. Internet advertising is improving, but is still under-priced. You may be able to sell a little advertising if you're a portal site for an industry, or perhaps put some Google AdSense ads on your site. But these aren't big money-makers. Look at advertising sales as a hopeful bonus, not as a sure thing.
  • Sell products or services directly over the Internet. You want to conduct e-commerce and sell to a national or international market. You'll have some kind of ordering system for one or more products, or perhaps an extensive online catalog. You may offer an online service that can be delivered over the Internet or that can be initiated online.
  • Earn affiliate commissions for sales and leads generated through links on your website. Savvy marketers are building microsites designed to generate search engine traffic for a particular hot product or service. When a visitor clicks on one of their links, he is referred to an e-commerce site, and, if a sale results, the affiliate gets a commission. Perhaps a form on your site generates leads or subscriptions for another company.
  • Provide customer service and support. Websites are a great place for troubleshooting guides, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), technical information, etc. You can generate Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) labels. You can provide multiple ways for your customers to contact you (see under Point #9 below).
  • Save money by means of online efficiencies. Companies have used the Internet to save billions of dollars. Taking orders online with real-time credit card authorization saves paying call center operators and cuts entry errors. Online catalogs save lots in paper, printing, and distribution costs. Online FAQs and knowledge bases cut the number of customer service personnel you need. And I'm just scratching the surface here.
  • Affiliate Programs |
    ecommerce web site design company--Web design agency provides real estate website design, ecommerce, professional web design and custom Web Design services Delhi India.
    Web Design India--Outsource Web Design India: Zed Axis a outsource web design company in India provides professional web design in India. Our web design professionals are expert in web design, graphic design and many more.
    Website Development Japan--Website Development Japan
    Best Websites by Centauria--Selected examples of high-end web design and programming work by Centauria Design
    business web hosting--business web hosting
    WEBPRESENCE UK - Manchester based SEO Company--Webpresence UK - The Manchester based SEO Company. Based in Macclesfield, South Manchester the Webpresence team boasts SEO specialists proven in their field. Our company offers a unique approach to business that delivers results to exceed your expectations
    IT Jobs--CV-Library.co.uk - 1000's of IT jobs from the UK's top recruiters and employers.
    Software Testing Ukraine --BugHuntress QA Lab offers outsourcing testing of Web-based, WAP, mobile, wireless, and embedded applications. Independent verification and validation (IV&V) of software products. Dedicated testing teams.
    HP Integrity --Provider of HP Integrity systems and bespoke IT solutions for your business.
    Telemarketing UK --UK Telemarketing, Telesales and Direct Marketing Company.
    Leeds Design Agency --ICM Creative Communications - UK Package Design, graphic design, marketing consultancy, packaging and promotion. Based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK..
    web design --a specialist web design and development company based in the UK
    Cash Advance Lenders --Compare Payday Loan Or Cash Advance Lenders Online Before You Borrow. Quickly and easily qualify for an unsecured personal loan online with no obligation.
    Dubai Hotels--Visit www.dubaifurnishedapartments.com now to plan your next holiday and choose from a wide variety of luxurious and furnished Dubai Hotels located at the most strategic areas of Dubai.
    Pay Per Click Management--An internet marketing firm industry leader, Reciprocal Consulting has proven strategies for increasing ROI through enhanced pay per click management and crucial SEO link building combined with on-site optimization.
    Deleted Domains--DomDat.com provides data on expiring and expired domains, including backward links and search engine rankings. <14>
    Web design perth--5 Profit Growth Strategies with shopping cart web site designs for Australia. Shopping carts, email marketing, seo, e - marketing tools, software solutions websites. Web design Perth Australia for Australian shopping carts.<14>
    Bio Research--Biotech-Calendar.com is your source for upcoming science events and shows.
    hedge fund accounting software--Archway Technology is your source for accounting software that can help your business grow.
    DISC Personality Profile--Get your personality test and profile today.
    DISC profile reports--Get your personality test and profile today.
    backup reporting--Looking for Backup Storage and reporting for your network. Look no further than Aptare.com.
    New Laptop Parts New Laptop Batteries--PriorityComputerParts.com has the computer parts that you have been wanting and needing to keep your computer running smoothly.
    Web Site Designing Companies--Find useful resources of web site designing companies.
    Novell Data Recovery--Kernel for Novell Data recovery software recovers data from the corrupt volume(s) of a crashed Novell Server.
    Ms Backup Recovery--Kernel for MS backup recovery software is a professional file recovery tool to recover corrupt bkf files. Ms Backup Recovey software repairs BKF files quickly and easily from Corrupt BKF, damaged BKF.
    Php Script Installation--Script installation and custom script development is our specialty. Whatever your needs for application development or specific programming functions we can help.
    Images and HTML --There are literally millions of websites on the Internet these days. How do you make sure that your website is not lost in virtual obscurity? Well, there are several key elements that every great website has.
    SEO Services India --SEO Services Group is a SEO company offering SEO services with a professional team offering services at affordable rates with guaranteed results.
    Web Designing India --E2 Solutions offer services like website design, web application development, and multimedia presentations.
    Computer Reseller Home Based Business.--Learn how to start, build and run a profitable computer reseller business online. Sell over 250,000 professional computer products. NO INVENTORY! All products are drop-shipped directly to your customers door step with your name on the box.
    Freelance graphic designer for print & web in London UK --Rob Cubbon offers complete graphic design and marketing services for print and
    Web Design and Graphic Design --World class web and graphic design solution including Web 2.0 Design, Logo Design, PSD to XHTML, PSD to HTML, Wordpress Design, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Web Promotion.
    fake college transcripts --Not only do we guarantee that the fake college transcripts will be delivered in a timely manner, the quality of the fake college transcripts purchased will be far higher that with any of our competitors.
    Quality Web Services--Brainy technologies develop customizable software, web services, and Artificially Intelligent products that are market leading in terms of innovation, user experience, quality, and technology whilst maintaining the lowest carbon footprint possible.
    web hosting--Free web hosting from the best web hosting and domain name registration provider. Doteasy offers bannerless web hosting, domain name registration, and free email service for your small business or personal website.
    cheap web hosting--Webbez.com Internet offers a large range of internet services including unix web hosting, dedicated servers, domain names and reseller hosting
    hosting service--Web site hosting with price guarantee and live support. Promotion package, sitebuilder and much more.
    Paradox Repair--Kernel for Paradox repair software repair corrupted or damaged table or table data, locked [.db] database file.
    Computer Data Recovery--Computer Data Recovery tool can effectively recover photos, files,emails, music, files, and folders from the deleted, lost, formatted partitions.
    Web Design Galway--Provides web design services for Ireland
    Seo Company India--Website Promotioner is the ultimate web solution in the whole internet world. WSP is one of the leading Indian SEO Services Company offering Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing Services, SEO Consulting, Link Exchange, Link Building Services, Website Designing, Development and Web Hosting.
    Web Design--Web Design, Programming and database design using a range of web languages including PHP/MYSQL, (.net) and MSSQL. A.N.A Web Hosting also offer a range of dedicated servers, web hosting and search engine optimisation services.
    macintosh data recovery --Kernel Macintosh data recovery is a tool that provides to recover data from the mac hard drives, CD-ROM, external devices (Zip, Jaz, Syquest), Apple iPods and much more & performs apple mac recovery.
    word repair --Kernel for Word Repair is an easy to use advance word recovery software tool that repairs or fixes corruption using quick algorithm to scanthe intensity of damage to the word document files.
    Access Repair --Kernel Access Repair is a Software Tool that can fix & Repair corrupts access database data of all versions of Access.
    Access Recovery--Kernel access recovery is an utility that used to recover & repair corrupts access database data. MDB Repair supports all version of Microsoft version.
    NZ SEO--Small Business website design for established and new businesses in the New Zealand marketplace.
    document management--Offers document management, and file managements software asOffers document management, and file managements software as
    Website Design Company--Crystaltech eSolutions is a Web development company and offshore outsourcing company based in North India.Crystaltech eSolutions invites offshore clients to outsource Web design and development to India. Crystal eSolutions offer a wide range of services including Web design, Web development.
    Atlanta Website Design and Development--K-3 Technologies is a professional and affordable Website Design and Development Company based in Atlanta that specializes in website design and application development for businesses.
    Encrypted USB Flash Drives
    Encrypted USB Flash Drives
    Remote Access, Help Desk Software, File Management and Web Conferencing --Offers help desk software for remote access, live streaming video, web conferencing, help desk management software and remote server tools.
    Hard Drive Failure -- Have you had hard drive failure? need to recover data from your hard drive? Try Dat Labs
    SEO UK -- I-COM.net is a Search Engine Marketing Company with qualified Google Adwords Professionals, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Consultants, Web Designers and Web Developers in Manchester, UK.
    web hosting
    Your Domain Registration
    Mac site builder--If your new to Web Hosting then check out the Hosting Plan Wizard at Onewebhosting.com!
    Data Recovery Tool--Data Recovery Tool for Windows is an effective software tool to recover deleted files.

What's the design decision here? To be clear and focused about your site's objectives and purposes.

Source:http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/12design.htm
Copyright 2007