Planning A Website
Owl Web Design's quick 10-step guide to planning a website. Remember that Owl Web Design is on call to help with all aspects of web site planning, and that we are happy to take on as much or as little of the following as you require.
1. What do you want from your website?
Determine what the purpose of your website is. Common examples are:
• Brochure. Introduce your company to prospective customers. Enable them to download information, find prices and to contact you.
• Shop. Primary purpose to sell products.
• Blog. Keep people up to date with what you or your organisation is up to. Open discussions and allow feedback. Blogs are usually made with a CMS application such as Wordpress.
• Showcase.Use your site as an online gallery / showreel.
2. How will you measure its effectiveness?
A website's effectiveness can be measured in many ways, including: no. of visitors, no. of enquiries made via web contact form, no. of enquiries made via other means (tel. / mail, etc.), no. of online sales made, no. of offline sales made. It's a good idea to find a means of measuring the success of your website.
3. Identify your website's 'Call To Action'.
If your website is not purely informational, the 'Call to action' is where a visitor interacts with your site and therefore your company. This could be – filling in a request for information, adding their name to a mailing list, making a purchase, downloading a brochure, etc. The call to action on Owl Web Design's site is for a visitor to contact us either via our contact form or by phoning us on 07505 224 081!
4. How will you market your website?
Although often seen as a marketing device in itself, a website needs marketing in order to be successful. Make your customers aware of your website, include your web address on company stationery and advertising. You can create traffic to your site with good SEO, and can pay for highly targeted visitors with a PPC advertising campaign.
5. How will your site be structured?
Consider how your visitors will interact with your site. Position the information that visitors are likely to want quickly so that it is easy to find, and present additional information in a way that will attract a visitor's attention. Try to create a natural flow towards a 'call to action'. (See step 3). For further information on website structure, please contact us.
6. Have you thought about possible keywords?
It's a good idea to distribute keywords throughout the heading and text of your website. Select one or two primary keywords and several additional keywords per page, and don't use them on other pages.
7. Have you prepared any content?
What will go on each page? Text needs to be written and photographs need to be taken. Owl Web Design can provide copy writing and photography services if necessary.
8. Do you have an existing company image that you wish the website to reflect?
How much does your website have to tie in with the existing image of your company or organisation? Do you have the original computer files for any logos or other company graphics?
9. Are there any existing websites you like the design of?
If you like the look of an existing website, let us know – we're not going to copy it outright, but if there are certain aspects or features that you would like us to include on your site, we can try to incorporate them.
10. Have you thought about potential domain names for your site?
You may want to get 'www.YourCompanyName.co.uk', but sometimes a keyword-based domain name can produce better results – how many people will be searching for 'Smiths Autos' compared to 'MOTs Brighton'? You can register more than one domain name and direct them all to a main site, so there's nothing to stop you from snapping up both names.