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Posted by Sarah Brown on 27 Apr '16

5 tips on getting the website of your dreams

Five tips based on our experience to help you through the process of finding and working with a web designer

It might be totally new, or it might be just being updated, but getting your website updated should be a positive thing to do.

You decide you want to get more business or leads off the net, you need a better presence so, in hope, you start the process of working with a web developer. But too often something goes wrong.

Something gets lost in translation and the dreams of a website that works and you can be proud of disappear in missed deadlines, things you don’t understand or like and sometimes complete failure.

Three times in the last 10 days I have had people tell me how they have had to sack their web developer because the relationship has broken down.

While, like any relationship, it is impossible to guarantee success the following can help, these five tips are based on our experiences, both good and bad:

1 Which is more important - technical or design?

Be clear about what you need doing, if it is an existing website – this will help you choose the right type of company to achieve your goals. If you need technical updates rather than creative, find a technical expert in building your type of website – insist on seeing examples of websites they have developed that achieve your technical goals such as selling on line. If the way it looks is most important then get a feel for the designer and their style and see if it suits you again looking at websites they have done.

2 Have a clear brief

Particularly if you are starting from scratch, develop a brief which includes what the site has to do, and what would be nice if the budget and timescales allow; again be clear about your objectives, is the site acting as a brochure or does it actively need to sell? We have several tools to help if you want them, contact us

3 Who does what?

When choosing a web company understand what you want them to do:

  • Just the technical and design
  • Web layout and strategy
  • Words
  • Photos
  • Images
  • Videos
  • Calls to action and links to your CRM

Then starting with when you want it finished, agree with them who is doing what when, in writing so everyone knows, including your copywriter and photographer, if applicable. This will also ensure it is clear exactly what you will be getting for the money quoted

4 Who will be doing the project management, you or them?

Before committing to any web company as well as looking at their example sites, talk to customers and ask them about how the process was, what the company actually did, and did they feel they got added value or were they needing to lead the project themselves. If you don’t have time, don’t choose a company that needs lots of management.

5 What is the lifetime cost of the site?

Finally a website is just the start, how easy will it be to update it, add pages, do blogs, add videos etc? Where will it be hosted and who owns the domain? How secure is the company and the site? All this needs to be clear before you commit. A cheap website may end up being more expensive in the long run if you have to pay every time you want to change it.

Conclusion

As with anything the more thorough you are in planning and preparation, the more likely it is that you will get the result you want and the website of your dreams, rather than a nightmare.

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Tags: marketing goal setting strategy

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