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Web Site Planning: A Top Ten List
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by Jeannine TaylorSo, you are considering a web site for your business. It may be a good move, as the advantage of a web site can expand, and even redefine, your business development. The internet also has the potential to reduce your promotional costs if you are committed to developing it as a new medium.
However, If you are like most businesses in this position, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed about the internet learning curve that you are facing. You're probably also feeling a bit pressured to "get on-line" and be there either ahead of your competition, or to meet to them head on. Added to these challenges are the array of web site developers ready and eager to have your business, and they will bring to you an equally vast array of price ranges!
There are many professional web authors who will be willing to help you. However, this is an incredible growth industry, and there are also many web site developers who are not paying enough attention to the marketing requirements of a site.
The internet is a new medium, and should be considered as such: a new communication tool for your business. It should be integrated into your overall marketing, communications and promotional plans, both short and long term.
You should be prepared with a plan before you start shopping for a web site designer. It will save you time and money in the long run. It will also help you prepare for the process of consulting with a web author and help you find a good fit with the designer who will earn your business. If you have a site that you feel needs to be reworked, this list will be equally useful to you.
As you work through these questions, you will be creating a "mini" internet marketing strategy. The following list will at least prepare you for the process ahead. These are the questions that a thorough designer should bring to an initial consultation, so in effect, I'm just "turning the table" with this list! A good designer will bring a mix of technical, design and marketing skills, and my top ten list covers all of these areas.
1. What purpose will my web site serve for my business?
The first and most important question! If you've done much surfing, you will recognize the sites where a business has rushed to get-anything-at-all-on-line, just to be there!
The purpose of your site will depend on the type of business you operate and your initial ideas of how an internet presence can develop your business. If you want to start a site with a few pages and have plans for future ideas and growth, that's great! At least you will be prepared to commit to it on an ongoing basis, and develop additions to the site accordingly. The key is to create a vision that your web designer will be aware of, and help you plan from the onset.
"It's easy to build a web site. Anyone can do it for little or no money. What is not so easy is to build a successful web site that meets your business objectives and encourages people to return."
2. How will we respond to internet communications received?
Are you and your staff prepared and capable of responding to the requests you will receive from the site? The internet is a fast and immediate communication vehicle, and anyone requesting information will expect a quick follow-up. Your goal on follow-up should be the same day. If you want to provide superior service, increase your response time the same hour! It will pay off in recommendations from that new customer - remember that most web site referrals (over 90%) come from word of mouth and friends! Your site will be an extension of your customer service and can be a very effective tool in boosting this service.
Your answer to this question will help your designer create interactivity on your site with forms and guest books. Don't even consider using these applications unless you can follow up within the same day!
3. Are we committed to ongoing maintenance and updates of the site?
A deadly cyberspace sin is to create a site that becomes stagnant. It will be obvious to most viewers when the site was last updated. Not only is this not impressive, they won't return.
If need be, plan a smaller site to start and budget for monthly growth. Depending on the nature and purpose of your site, plan to add at least 10 to 20% additions per month.
Be clear about what your intentions are in the content of the site. If you plan to add a page of sales items every two weeks, put the date in, ask visitors to return, and make sure you stick to the plan. You'll have to have a reliable designer to help you achieve this. A good question to ask them on your first consultation would be about their availability and commitment to maintenance.
4. How can we make the site interactive and informative for our clients?
A creative designer can help you with the technical possibilities in this area. The answers will probably be related to the purpose of your site, and depend on the nature of your business.
Creativity will play a role here, in combination with technical capabilities. You could start with some ideas about what you see as an interactive service for your customers. If you have a business where questions and shared information are a natural, you may want to include an on-line bulletin board or even a chat room!
5. How will my current business "image" translate onto the internet?
This is a question that will be answered in consultation with the designer. You should be prepared to bring all of your current promotional material to an initial consultation. This includes your business card, letter head and envelopes, colour schemes used, any flyers and sales materials, and supplier catalogues. Your web designer should also be a graphic designer who will use this material to create ideas and draft graphics for your web site. They should be aware of how images are best re-created for the net in formats that are effective, easily downloaded. They should also provide ideas on how to create special effects and additional technical aspects to the site that will merge your image with an effective site.
Beware of "eye-candy" enthusiasts! Using too much animation, Flash, Java, and other on-line goodies will turn viewers off - and out of your site! These applications have their purpose, but should be used in moderation and with aesthetic balance.
"Beware of "Sistine Chapelitis." Immense spectacular artwork has a place. The Web isn't it. People just don't have the time, patience or modems to wait for endless graphics to load in!"
6. How will people find my site?
Distribution on-line is critical. Not distributing a web site is comparable to printing a flyer and leaving it in your own backyard. Many web sites are created and launched with little consideration given to attracting visitors. In order to generate visits to your site, development of your site must include "distribution" on-line , or generation of your location to the Internet "search engines" (e.g., Google, Yahoo) that will bring visitors and clients to you.
There are a number of technical and planning considerations in this process. A concentrated effort and pre-planning will generate visitors and quicker results. Your designer should be prepared to include META (hidden) text in your pages, particularly the home page, for the search engine indexing robots to pick up as key words, description of your site, etc. When your site is complete, the designer should thoroughly distribute your location to the net search engines and related industry links sites. As part of ongoing maintenance, your site should be resubmitted as it is updated.
7. How will I promote the site?
Be prepared to promote your site in all of your promotional material! Everything from business cards to flyers and catalogues should have your e-mail address on them. Promote it as you would any good news: issue a media release; add it to ALL of your current advertising; make a flyer; and distribute it as an announcement at your business.
There are many other ideas, the important note here is to develop a new level of awareness of promoting your site.
8. What will my site content be?
This is a big question. It may not be an easy answer, but your initial preparation could be a list of the various areas of your business. You may provide both services and products. You may also be aware of some internet resource sites related to your business that you want to include on a resource or links page.
If you are considering an on-line catalogue, the answers to this question will be more complex, and the material you bring to a web author will be critical. The minimum requirement in answering this question will be the creation of an ideas list, and you can work the details out as the site development unfolds. Consider any future growth of the site, which will be important in developing the overall navigation.
The first step in any web site plan should be a site navigation map, laid out in a flow chart format for your approval and for future discussion. This planning process should take the site designer at least a few hours, and they should be eager to research your on-line competition and comparable sites. If they're not willing and able to do so, go to the next potential web developer on your list.
"Beware of Siteusnervosa...Just because Netscape allows you to make your entire web site blink doesn't mean that they meant you to do so. Just remember you can make things blink on TV and yet the only advertisers who do so are either selling Ginsu knives or pan flute recordings."
9. Where will my site be stored?
If you already have a service provider that you are happy with, you may have already decided to host your site with them. This is a question that your developer can help with. They should be aware of the local providers and be able to answer your questions on various rates and the pros and cons of each.
10. Do we need our own domain name?
You should have your own domain name: www.yourbusiness.com! The cost for registering a domain name is inexpensive. Your web designer should be able to find out if your requested name is available and completed the registration process.
They should also be capable of moving your site if it will exist under a service provider location prior to your domain name being registered, which may take several weeks. Your server is also able to do this for you, and it may be more beneficial to take that route if your site will remain with that provider. This may eliminate any transfer fees.
The quotes appearing in this article are by Bill Sweetman, from "Web Site Strategies" in the March 1997 issue of Internet World (they're too good not to share...).
For more information, contact:
Jeannine Taylor, CEO
(705) 742-6404
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