Website Planning

A well designed web site is a dynamic creation made up of several different parts. These parts come together to create what you see as a web site, an ever changing product. The points below provide helpful information for laying the foundation for your website.

1. Who is my audience?
2. If this is for a business, what unique edge do you have on your competitors?
3. Even if the site is intended to be purely informational, what are it's deliverables? (Hint: It should be lightening your workload.)
4. How many pages will your site have? Do you have an idea of what you think those pages should communicate?
5. Will you need custom created images, will you purchase stock images or will you use what royalty free stock images are available online?
6. Will you want to maintain the site yourself or will you pay someone to do this for you?
7. How will people find your website? Many website developers now include organic SEO (search engine optimization) and website submissions as a part of a package. Be sure to ask website developers you are considering.
8. Who will host your website? You may want to consult with your web developer if you plan to have items such as PHP driven tools or a shopping cart for recommendations. That said, I encourage my clients to maintain their own hosting service as opposed to hosting their website or domain through their web developer.
9. As a business owner, your time is very valuable. That said here is a point I drive with my clients: invest the time to understand your investment at least at a high level. Read through the resource articles listed on the right side of this page. Doing this will help equip you to make informed choices about your presence on the world wide web.