Building a Website? Consider These 6 Questions First

It goes without saying that when you build a website, you need help from a developer with solid experience and top-flight skills. However, the success or failure of a website does not rest solely with the developer. You will be much happier with the finished product if you take the following factors into consideration before development on your project begins.

1. What are your goals for the site?

Are you promoting a new brand? Trying to broaden your customer base? Itching to edge out your competition? A website is more than just a few pages of text and the occasional image. A website is a valuable tool that can help you achieve important objectives. But before that can happen, you need to have a clear idea of what those objectives are.

2. How will users find your site?

Will you be relying on organic traffic to bring people to your site? Or will traffic mainly come through referrals? Sites designed to drive organic traffic can differ significantly from sites that don’t rely on organic traffic. You need to carefully consider this question and communicate the answer to the developer – otherwise you might not like what you see.

3. Who is your audience?

If your company sells jewelry to teen girls, your site needs to appeal to teen girls. If you’re a financial consultant and you want to work with high-asset clients, your site needs a high-level look and feel. If you aren’t sure who your audience should be, ask your developer. An experienced developer can help you determine the best audience for your site.

4. Who will manage the website?

A website isn’t something you can set and forget. Successful website are dynamic. Search engines reward sites that update their content regularly, and users trust them more as well. Conversely, sites that have obviously not been updated in a long time, sites with long-abandoned blogs attached to them, and sites that look outdated are not favored by users or search engines. Make sure you know ahead of time who will be responsible for updating content, and make sure that person is involved in the development process.

5. How will you measure the site’s performance?

If you’re going to invest in a website, it’s important to keep track of how well it performs. Many people use Google Analytics to monitor traffic to the site. Your developer can install Google Analytics and answer questions if you need help learning how to use it.

6. How much do you want to spend?

You can have a beautiful site with lots of bells and whistles if you’re willing to pay for it. If you don’t have that kind of money in your budget, you will need to stick with a simpler vision. An experienced developer will tell you that a simple website can be just as effective as an embellished one – as long as it’s done right. You know that you need to do your due diligence before buying business. Building a website is no different. Considering these important questions will go a long way to ensuring that you get the site that helps you achieve your goals.