Web Site Design and Technology Solutions
Creating a Website-Getting Started
Creating an Internet presence to promote your business and services is more of a requirement than an option these days. Once you’ve decided to establish a Web site on the Internet, you will want a website that not only reflects you and your business, but looks great and is search engine friendly. Here are a few things to think about and complete as you plan your Web site.
One of the key parts of a Web site is establishing its “look and feel.” If you’re moving an established business online, you may already have a “look and feel” to your business through your brochures, logos, business cards marketing materials. Or you may be creating a new look and feel for your company.
To determine the “look and feel” of your business, answer these questions:
a. What colors and fonts are your customers used to seeing?
b. If you’re starting new, what colors and fonts would you like them to see?
c. What do you want to say to them? Is your overall image serious, lighthearted, professional, whimsical, etc.?Don’t expect your best ideas to come from your first thoughts; good web design takes time. The more information and ideas you can communicate to your Web designer, the better chance you have for your vision and the final design to match.
Start keeping track of your thoughts. You might even want to create a special folder on your computer as a place to store all of your ideas, pictures, content, etc. that you think might fit.
Here are some suggested topics to get you pointed in the right direction.
Purpose and Goals
• What is the goal of your site? What are you hoping to achieve with your Web site?
• What do you want visitors to DO at your Web site? Is it filling out a form, calling an 800 number, or buying a product?
• Do you want to attract a larger audience? Provide an existing customer base with more information?
• Generate leads to be followed up by your sales team?Target Audience
It would be very helpful to determine who your target audience is. Does your business have a “niche” market?
• What is their age? What is their income? Gender?
• What sort of Web interface will appeal to them? (Flashy, edgy, contemporary?)
• How can your product or service meet their needs?What I Like
Browse some Web sites relating to your service or business. It is helpful to pick three that really appeal to you and communicate this to your website designer. It helps them to get into your head and figure out what your preferences are.
• Take down the URL’s of the Web sites that you like.
• What do you like about them? The Layout? Colors? Navigation? Fonts?Layout - think about how you want your Web site to look. How many pages and how you want the navigation to work.
Navigation - Keep it simple and you won’t lose your Web site visitors. Do you like your navigation across the top? Left side? Right side? Nice buttons or text links?
Colors - Choose your colors wisely. If you have existing marketing materials, you will want to send them to your Web designer for scanning and color sampling. It’s important to maintain your existing branding and corporate look as you move online.
• Elegant business-like colors include dark, rich colors such as navy blue, burgundy, scarlet, deep purple.
• Fresh, healthy colors include bright orange, pale yellows, blues and greens.
• Loud, high-impact colors include vibrant colors such as bright shade of yellow, bright red, purple and black.Side Note: There are only 216 “web safe” colors. These are colors that all browsers will be able to display.
Fonts - Use an easy-to-read font for the majority of your text. Fancy fonts and special fonts can be used for headings, subheadings, special announcements, and news.
Side note: Not all fonts will display in all browsers.
What I Don’t Like
Knowing what you don’t like is just as important as what you like. Write down things that bug you and share them with your designer so he or she can steer clear of them!
Be specific. What don’t you like about a Web site? Visually loud? Difficult to read and understand? Is the navigation unclear?
Web Site Pages
Here’s what I usually recommend to start, the basic pages. If you’ve got ideas for additional pages, great! And, of course, more pages can always be added later.
- Homepage - This is the first page of your Web site. This page is the “first impression” someone has of you and your business or the “Hook
- The homepage must clearly state what your site is about. It can include a mission statement and link to your other pages for more information.
- About Us – This page is more descriptive and goes into more depth about the company or services
- Resources - All your links to other related Web sites go here. This gives you a chance to supply your users with more information about your subject/services.
- Services - Use this page to tell your visitors about they types of services you offer, what to expect, how much they cost.
- Contact Us - All your contact information goes here, along with a form for your visitors to fill out. When your visitors fill out the form, it’s instantly E- mailed to you.
- Testimonials - Nothing sells like existing happy clients. Show off your letters here.
Other Thoughts and Ideas
Write down any other thoughts and ideas that you have for your Website, no matter how small or simple!
Do you want your navigation buttons to change when the mouse rolls over them? Do you want a copyright statement at the bottom of your pages? Do you want a Flash movie added to your Web site?
How about a message board? Polls? Any other special features? Add these to your “Other Thoughts/Ideas” worksheet.
Just like creating a plan for your business strategy or marketing efforts is important to success, creating a plan for the design of your site is crucial to the successful launch of your website.