The effort it takes to develop a working and profitable Web presence can take time. However, planned with careful thought and attention to detail, it can reap great rewards. There are some questions that need to be considered.
Preliminary Questions
· What are your business objectives?
· What do you want to gain from your Web site?
· What content should the site include?
· What message are you trying to say?
· Can you have some fun with the Web site and add some interesting things that will bring customers back time and time again?
· Do you need feedback from your customers?
· Who will be your Internet Service Provider?
· If you have an ISP, are you happy with them?
· Does your business plan already incorporate your Internet strategy?
· What are the objectives of your Web site?
· What are the financial and personnel commitment to building and maintaining a Web site?
· What are the security issues related to using the Internet?
· What are some legal issues that may impact how you conduct business over the Web?
· Should you have well designed printed promotional material for your company or organization?
Web Site Design
· Make navigation easy
· Make pages that load quickly
· Use good graphics and photos
· Develop consistency across all pages
· Allow multiple entry points into your home page
· Allow for other means of communication
So now you have a few questions to answer, how do you go about answering them??
Brainstorm! Get together with a few co-workers and regular customers in your office, or at lunchtime and throw a few ideas around. This is an effective way to generate ideas and make the necessary decisions.
Remember that you can start your site with just a few words about who you are, what you do, where you are located, and your contact information. Then you can progress to including your product catalogs, online order forms and whatever else you want your site to include. It’s a good idea however, to know what you would like on your final site. This way the original small site can be laid out to incorporate any future changes.