When you are building a website you need to plan ahead so you set yourself up for success. A website without a plan is like building a house without a blueprint. Without some planning your website won’t look like you envisioned, won’t functions as expected, and makes it difficult to convey to your web designer what you really want. A little pre planning will make sure that you and your web designer are on the same page so that you can hit your goals, stay on budget, and keep your deadlines. If you are thinking about starting a website then this guideline will lay the groundwork to make your website a success. Harvest Web Design can help you along the process to make sure that we can create the most effective website designed for you.

What is the Purpose of Your Website?

Are you trying to gain exposure for your business? Do you need to highlight events? Do you want to sell more products? At the same time as defining your websites purpose, you need to think about your target audience. Define your goals. How many visitors do you need to be successful? Sales goals? Set realistic goals that can be measured so you can track your success. You can use Google Analytics to track these goals.

What is Your Budget?

You need to set a defined budget for your website, whether you are an established business or a brand new startup. Make sure to plan on funds for the design, programming, and hosting. Do your due diligence. Don’t select your web designer on price alone. Research their portfolio, ask questions, and pick a web designer that will produce the best site, not the cheapest.

Content is King.

What kind of content will your website consist of? Content is what you use to convey your idea to your readers/customers. Examples of content are:

• Blog posts
• Video
• Images
• Documents
• Slideshows
• Social media posts

You need to decide what pages you are going to need. Most websites have an About and Contact page, but the rest should be suited directly to your business. Each page should be tailored to complete your goals. They should push your readers towards buying your product, signing up for your newsletter, drive people to follow you on social media, or what ever your website goals are. Decide how you want to do this. Are you going to blog, create highly targeted landing pages, engaging newsletters, etc. Your content is the most important part of your website. Think about hiring a professional writer that is experienced in writing web content. Get a professional photographer to take pictures of your business and staff.

Following these guidelines when planning your website will only help you and your website designer to build you the perfect website. If you need help with your planning and want to make sure your website is built for success, please CONTACT Harvest Web Design in Melbourne FL so we can assist you.