How to Properly Plan Your Website
New research from Forrester claims that 74% of website owners use no
testing, research, or data to make decisions about their websites,
relying instead on intuition, gut feelings, and the reactions of a few
people they happen to ask, often relatives.
Imagine building an office that way.
“Let’s just build some steps here,” you could decide, “and then we’ll see how we feel about what to put at the top.”
You probably wouldn’t do that. And yet everyday companies decide to build a website with no particular plan or ideas.
Of
course, at Oyova we are ready to help you get from no particular plan
to the finished website. We enjoy the process, we’re experienced with
it, and we have the tools you need.
Still, if you’re thinking
about getting your new website up for the new year, there are some
things you might want to do to get ready:
- Decide what you want your website to do for you. Do you need a
website that will present your company’s face to the world? Will you be
selling things directly from the website, or do you want it to bring
people into your brick-and-mortar office or store? The job you want your
website to do affects the way we’ll build your site. - Decide what you want people to do when they go to your website. Do
you want them to phone you? Should they download a brochure or make an
appointment? Would you like them just to stay a long time and come back
often? Not only will this question affect your design and content, but we’ll want to track visitors’ behavior for you as well. - What information do you want to offer on your website? It’s a good
plan to begin gathering it. A last-minute scramble to track down the
name of an associate or the correct price of a product can slow down a
website. Multiply those searches by dozens and you can have real delays
on your hands. The same is true of the pictures you want to use. You’ll need
high-resolution photos and a vector image of your logo. - Look at some other websites. You can look at your competitors’
sites, of course, but any sites that you admire can help you get a clear
idea of what you like. Being able to tell your designer that you want a
hand-drawn look or that you like lots of chrome effects and rounded
corners will start your project off with a clear end in view and
increase the chances of your being happy with the first mock-up. - Settle on a budget. Website costs vary widely, and there’s a site
for every budget. But not every site can fit into every budget. If you
know what you can spend, we can help you prioritize your ideas and fit
the most important elements into your plan.
At Oyova, we build custom sites, each one completely different, based
on the needs of the individual business. Gather your thoughts and meet with us to discuss how we can help you make your dreams a reality.
