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The Process of Website Development in 10 Steps:
Step 1: Set your objectives. Do you want a flashy branding site, a trading platform, an information-gathering site, or an information-giving site? Whatever your objectives are, your web site is a
key marketing tool - an additional channel to market that should complement other aspects of your marketing program.
Step 2: Set a budget that you can afford and introduce a measure to
check your return on investment. This measure needs to be in place from the day you launch your site and like any other business strategy, regular reviews must take place.
Measurement of return on
investment will depend on your objectives, which will differ from company to company.
Step 3: Choose a Web designer. Word of mouth recommendation is probably one of the best routes - use
your network and ask around. Otherwise, do a search using the Internet. It's a good idea to work with a fairly local supplier, so for example you may search for "web design Las Cruces" in
Google and a best match list will appear. Here's a "Selecting a Web Designer" checklist to follow when interviewing designers.
Step 4: Think about the site content and link this with the objectives
that you set out in Step 1. Gather all the information together and review this with your Web designer. Almost certainly, much of your existing content and copy will need editing or rewriting to suit the
web.
At this stage, you need to think about the domain name for your web site and where you will host it. Your designer should be able to guide you in this area.
Step 5: You've
now collated your existing material and there may be some additional content required which you've not yet written.
Within your launch time scale agreed with your web designer, you need to
realistically decide what you can achieve and if necessary, break the project down into Phase 1, 2 and beyond.
A web site should always be viewed as a Work in Progress and early planning of how
you want your framework to develop will help you to build a sturdy platform at the outset. Your Web designer should be able to help you with this.
Step 6: With your Web designer, draw up
your framework or web map and consider any phased requirements that you came across in Step 5.
Your web map, matched with your content material will allow the web designer to develop a few home
page concepts for you to consider.
These should strongly reflect your corporate identity and should have room for expansion for future updates.
Step 7: You've agreed upon content
and now the style, so it's time to let your design partner proceed with construction.
You should expect regular progress reports and it's a good idea to ask the designer to work up one
section of the site for you. This gives you the opportunity to test how the navigation works and to see if you like the overall style of the site.
Step 8: The construction of the whole of
the site can proceed, now that you have approved the first section.
You can expect regular contact with your designer throughout this stage, as the construction and approval process ensues.
Step 9: After the site has been optimized for the search engines and final approval has been given, it's time to launch your new site.
Don't expect it to stand alone; marketing the
presence of your new site is crucial. There are many ways in which you can do this:
- submit to Web directories & search engines
- actively pursue links from several related Websites
- incorporate your Web address on all printed material
- verbally by your own staff
- distribute press announcements
- newspaper & magazine advertising
- e-mail campaigns
An experienced Web designer will be able to offer advice and help on all of the above.
Step 10: You may think that
you've now finished your project - but this is definitely not the case. Your web site should be regularly updated with fresh information. It's an assurance to a potential customer to see
evidently current material on your site. As outlined in Step 5 of this article, you may also need to phase in new sections of the site as your company evolves.
The use of a web statistics package
will help you to analyze which areas of your new web site are being most frequently used. You can also assess information such as how long visitors are spending on your site, whether you get repeat
visitors, and much more. This type of marketing intelligence will help you to fine tune your site to its maximum potential.
With all this in mind, it's advisable to ask your web designer about
a maintenance contract. This can be an attractive, relatively low cost option for you to consider and will assist you in promoting your company in a dynamic, lively and interactive fashion.
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