A Strong and Powerful Foundation
by Ninive Badilescu
Designing, upgrading or even just re-focusing your
website is not an easy task, and even more so when the
foundation of the whole project is set on shaky ground.
Lets look at what is bound to strengthen it and make
it the starting point for a less stressful, less time
consuming and most of all less expensive experience.
Oh...and I forgot to mention: a much more successful
result. Take a piece of paper and write the following
questions and your answers before you take another step
towards building or enhancing your web site.
Why do I need a website and what do I expect to
accomplish from having one?
Failing to answer this question before you start your
work is the costlier mistake you can make. There are
so many sites out there that have clearly ignored this
step in their planning. When asking yourself Why do
I need a website go beyond the obvious answers such
as: to be out there, everybody has one, people are asking
me about our web site, etc. It is important to know
what your expectations are.
Do you want to have a simple web presence, a so-called
electronic brochure?
This would mean that your site will only display static
pages with little or no visitor interaction and its
role will be to give an overall presentation of your
services or products. If you would like to have your
website as an integral part of doing business the scenario
and requirements are quite different. You will need
to reproduce business systems using back-end development,
your site will be much larger, the skills needed to
building it will be quite advanced, etc. If to this
you want to add an e-commerce facility you add in fact
another layer of functionality that can only be achieved
with yet more specialised skills. Of course there is
always the in-between scenario where you offer more
than just static pages but less than fully automated
on-line business processes. The reality is that there
is no one-size fits all solution and each company will
have to invest the time in defining and scoping the
functional requirements for the website long before
they start working on it. Failing that you will have
to deal with the costly results of a website that does
not help your company in anyway and the prospect of
having to do it all over again. Take the time to see
where the website fits in your business and the business
processes you conduct and design it accordingly.
Who is going to use my site?
Defining the market or the niche you are planing to
attract to your site is another very important step
that needs to be taken before you start building it.
Why?
Because you have to give your market the right tool
if you want to have the right results. When I say right
tool I am talking about considering the level of computer
literacy you are expecting from your visitors, the level
of trust they are likely to have in an online experience,
the age group for which you choose the design and layout,
the type of products or services you offer and who are
the likely customers for them, what are their interest
you can use to design and develop add-on products for
on-line visitors, etc. We fix your car transmission
at your office within 3 hours (busy/successful professionals
who can afford the higher price, high level of computer
literacy, easy access to on-line features, confident
in using on line functions, time poor and need easy
access and fast loading pages), we offer retirement
planning for people over 65 (low level of computer literacy,
low level of access to the Internet, less confident
in using on-line functions), we offer best mp3 downloads
for those under 25 (young people with lots of computer
time, interested in low price/high quality music file
downloads, confident in using the computers but not
necessarily ready for on-line purchasing). These three
examples will require a different approach in design
and site functionality to appeal to the targeted market.
What are my strengths?/Why would the visitors want
to come to my site?
Define clearly what sets you apart from your competitors.
Dont stress the very obvious such as quality (I have
yet to see a business priding itself in having non-quality
products/services), better (all businesses are convinced
that their products are better than the next ones),
etc. Be specific and stress the very core of what sets
you apart: dedicated account manager, 24 hours door-to-door
delivery, same day response, etc. The more competitors
are out there the more specific you have to become in
defining your competitive edge. Once you define it make
sure that your website reflects it and reinforces it
throughout. A sale does not take place unless you offer
something that matches the markets needs (personalised
customer service, fast door-to-door delivery time, same
day response for specific enquiries, etc). You have
to promote your solutions rather than try and sell your
products. This is what attracts visitors to your site
and this is what will ultimately transform them into
buyers. Of course there are so many more questions that
come to mind and many of them will come up for you while
the development of the website is on its way. However
keeping in mind the three questions we talked about
here will ensure a strong and powerful foundation for
developing a winning web presence. Having the answers
to these questions before you start the actual work
will mean less effort, less time and most importantly
less expenses in the long run.
Why?
Because you will have a strong and powerful foundation
ready for you to build on.
about the author
Ninive is the founder of UAchieve Coaching. If you are
a small business owner wanting to grow your existing
business, a professional wanting to start your own business
or someone who has it all but wants to regain the quality
of life, Ninive will help you achieve your goals faster
and easier and save money in the process. Visit her
web site at: http://www.uachievecoaching.com
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