Tips on How to Develop a Good Website for a Company
05/28/2009 - By Donald Varner Online marketing is a big thing these days. On one occasion, a certain company business' website accounted for 15% to 20% of the day's sales. Not a bad number, considering how inexpensive it is to maintain a website. The problem is in the development.
The biggest issue when an executive or business operator decides to build a website is they often choose an existing website, which they like, as a model. There's nothing wrong with trying to following a successful model. What's wrong is that the model might not suit your type of business.
Here are five important factors to consider when developing a website for a company:
1. What is the purpose of the site?
First you need to ask yourself, "What am I trying to achieve?" Is the website supposed to showcase properties? It is supposed to sell products? Is it a photo gallery? Or is it simply a way of establishing the company's online presence?
Determine what you intend to achieve with the website right from the beginning, and everything else will follow.
2. What is the intended audience?
This is very important. The way the fonts and colors are organized on the page should depend on the type of audience you are trying to reach. The tone of the website is something you need to discuss in detail with your web developers.
For example, if your target audiences are opera fans, a website without a sophisticated layout, or else without any sound, simply won't work.
3. Which elements need to be dynamic?
Company websites make great portals because you can easily change them with the click of a mouse button. The downside is, you also carry the responsibility of updating them as frequently as possible.
Great websites thrive on dynamic elements. Discuss which elements should be dynamic with your web developer, so he or she could integrate it into the front-end and back-end design.
4. What resources are available to maintain the website?
You need to set up an IT department responsible for maintaining and implementing updates on the website. Decide on this early on so you won't have to hustle for staff by the time the website goes live.
5. What is the expected deployment date?
There's a saying among website developers. "Fast, cheap, good - pick any two." Simply put, the website's launch date will affect its entire development process.
For example, if you're trying to launch a website a week before the movie's release date, you're going to have to spend more by hiring more developers to work on the project. There's always a compromise when you need something done fast.
Lazy web developers simply give clients what they ask for, instead of educating them what works and what won't on a website for a specific type of business. What you can do, as a business executive, is figure the above pointers yourself beforehand in order to maximize the potential of having a business website.