We are often approached by individuals, organisations and businesses with a request to have a website built. Approximately, fifty percent of our customers who we deal with, don’t know the details of what they want their website to do for them and who will support it. So we wanted to put together this article as a starting point to get you all thinking about why you might think a website is right for you.
1. Why do you want or need a website?
Many people and organisations need to ask themselves this question to really determine if it’s worth spending the time and money to have a website built. What will having a website actually do and mean for you? Versus not having a website? Essentially, you will have one of two answers – either it’s a must have or it’s a nice to have.
2. Understand what you want your website to do for you.
Having a website needs to serve a quantifiable purpose for you. It should be more than just having a website because everyone else has a website. Getting to the bottom of what your website can/should do for you is very important. This can include things like:
Help boost sales of your products or services
Drive donations
Report critical information that is aligned to your organisational requirements
Promote you and/or your brand
3. Who is the intended target audience for your website and what do you know or believe that they want to see/experience with your website?
You want your target market to visit your website so that it is a useful tool that serves its purpose. So you must, understand your target market and why they would visit your website and hopefully revisit it as their needs change. They should be drawn to it and should build trust in you and your offerings.
4. How will your intended target market use your website?
This goes to the heart of your website’s objective and how you want a user to flow through your website. What do we mean when we say “flow through your website”? This means understanding how you would like a user to interact with your website, what messages and other media you would like them to see and what button(s) you want them to click. Ultimately, you want your audience to get to the ‘Call to action’ as effectively as possible. This ‘Call to action’ could be that you want them to buy something from you or sign-up/subscribe to your service, make a donation, etc. Their navigation and journey through your website should flow as seamlessly possible. We’ve all had that bad experience where we almost buy something and then give up as it just gets too hard!
5. Are you seeking a website or an e-commerce site?
An e-commerce site allows you to sell products and/or services and the actual transactions (transfer of currency) are made securely through the online Payment Gateway.
6. Do you have content for your website?
This includes having on hand or, at a minimum, a knowledge of:
The pages that you want your website to include
The text on each of these pages (or knowing if you need assistance with this)
The imagery on each of these pages (or knowing if you need assistance with this also)
7. Do you know how you want your website to look and feel (i.e. the layout and design)?
One option is doing your own research and looking for websites that you like the look and feel of so that they can be used for input/ inspiration on in the website design process. It is OK to have less of an idea about the final look and feel, but , this will most likely cost you more! money. Why How come? Well, because often when people don’t have a picture of what they really want in terms of their website they usually ask the website designer to come up with multiple design options. And this means more labour and therefore hours spent on providing you with these various design options. This also means that it will take longer for your website to be built and launched. Ultimately, it’s your choice on being prepared and starting with a fairly good idea of what you want. Or having little to no idea. But be aware that this will definitely impact the cost and time of delivery of your website.
8. Will your website need ongoing content updates? If so, do you know who will do this? For example, you might want training to maintain your own website content, or you might outsource all of this to NGNY?
It is important that you plan how you are going to manage your website content and how often this may need to be updated. Consider if Do you want to handle this in-house and invest your time in managing website content or would you prefer to outsource this and invest in a third-party to deliver this service?
9. Do you have or need a domain name?
Your domain name is your web and email address, for example www.domainname.com.au and joe@domainname.com.au. You will need this if you want your website to have its own unique online address for your target audience to visit.
Being able to answer these questions to the best of your ability, is important in being able to take the first steps toward knowing if a website is truly the right thing for you to invest in now and, if so, how to move forward on this investment.
If you need any assistance with answering any of the questions above, please do contact us, as we’re always willing to support those considering a website to promote their goals.