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Written by: thirdeyestudio | June 19, 2009 7:22 PM in Web Designers & Computer Services | 715 views | Tags: custom website design , how to create a website , how to plan a website , how to design a website
Define your objectives - Think about what is the purpose of the site. Are you there to sell your products and services, or highlight your business and get more clients for your services? Knowing the purpose will help you and your designer craft a successful site.
Overall Design & Mood - What do you want people to think of and FEEL when the visit your website? What do you consider your business image? What colors do you like and prefer? What kind of styles do you like?
Layout and Navigation - Look at other websites that are in the same business. Look at sites you already use and like to get a basic idea of the layout you would like your site to be.
How many pages or sections will the site have? Will you have sub sections? It’s a good idea to draw out the sections of the site to get a better handle on how you want to the information structured.
Do you want to build the site yourself, update the site yourself, or have your designer do all the work and updates so you can concentrate on your business? Knowing ahead of time will effect how the site is built. Using a service like homestead or sitebuilder might be a good option for do it yourselfers, but you will have to deal with your site looking the same as all the other people who used your template. Or, you can hire a designer to do the work, but make your own updates using Macromedia Contribute or a content management program like Wordpress or Joomla.
If you are selling products, do you want to sell via paypal or some other form of online payment system, or build a shopping cart? A shopping cart site is best for a large amount of products. Paypal is great for billing for services, classes, or a small amount of products.
Will you be sending out an email newsletter list and need to have a sign up form on the site? If so, using sites like constant contact, vertical response, or aweber is a good place to start. With these services, you have the option of adding a sign up box to your website, very easily.
Domain name - Have you picked out domain name for your site? The domain name is the address of the site, kind of like your physical address. It should be short and to the point, so people can remember it when they see it written or heard. Who is going to remember a long complicated website name?
Do you have hosting for your website? If you don't, you are going to need to get some. Hosting is where you put the files of your website on the internet. I prefer to use Godaddy or Network Solutions, since they are affordable and easy to use and set up.
