WHAT YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT BEFORE INVESTING IN A WEBSITE FOR YOUR BUSINESS
If you want your business to be present in today’s marketplace then you need to be present online.
So where do your priorities sit when it comes to designing a website that can connect with your customers?
Here Are Some Great Questions To Ask If Your Business Wants To Create Or Reimagine Its Online Presence:
1. Have you got a website?
If you already have a website then that’s a great starting point from which to evolve your online presence. Take a holistic look at your site and write down a list of what you feel works well and what doesn’t.
If you have a wider team it could be worthwhile asking them for feedback too. Review any information you have about how your customers currently use your website and consider it in relation to any current or future goals.
2. Who is your website for?
One of the most important questions that needs to be answered is who your website is for. A good understanding of your target audience will help you to fit your website to their needs. You can then reflect the ways that they will access and interact with your site within the web design process.
3. How do you expect your audience to find your site?
If you’re focused on your customers then you might be wondering how they’re going to find your website. There isn’t much point in investing in a great online space if no one actually knows it’s there. Take a think about how you want or expect your users to find your website: this is an important part of setting your online strategy.
4. What information does your business need to share?
The content on your website can be static or it can evolve. Being clear about the information that you need to share will give a web design team a good insight into the best structure to meet your needs.
You may find that you have promotional information to communicate, or your content may simply be focused on building a story about your brand. Either way, considering your options in detail will allow you to build a plan that supports your communication requirements in the short and longer term.
5. What does your website need to do?
Understanding both the business that you’re in and the needs of your customers should give you some great insights into the functionality that your site requires. Functionality is important both from the perspective of the front end of your website that your users interact with, and from the back end that makes sure that your site can perform the tasks you need it to achieve.
In today’s online world your business can choose to sell online through e-commerce; build and communicate to databases with online registration; streamline business processes; and much more. The possibilities are endless so it’s up to you to stay focused on what your customer and your business needs.
6. What brand are you representing online?
Just as it’s important to understand who your customers are, having a good understanding of your brand can make a huge difference when it comes to designing a unique online space for your business. Your brand may also set standards in terms of security and performance that should be reflected in the website that you create.
A clearly defined brand creates a great framework for what could and shouldn’t be done. It also allows you to be more creative with your website and take your user experience to another level.
7. What are the competition up to?
Being clear on what your competition are doing on their websites gives you a good benchmark for what your customers will expect and what your website needs to deliver. It’s not just about matching your competition you really want to be better than them – but it will give you a clearly defined minimum experience.
8. What do you want to measure?
If you’ve decided that having a great website is important, you probably already recognise the value that it could deliver to your business. The best way to demonstrate that value in the longer term is to set some clear goals around what you want your website to achieve.
These goals could be related to your Search Engine results, the number of visitors to your site, your online sales, or the amount of time people spend reading your blogs. By identifying in advance the goals that will represent success for your website, it’s possible to integrate the measurement tools into your design process and ensure you have measurable success.
For businesses who want to be present online, effectively building a website begins with knowing what questions to ask. At Caddie we take time to find out about your business so that you can get the most value from ours.
We specialise in getting you results online by building the best digital solutions for your needs. Contact us today on 06 875 8002 and find out more about how we can work together to create the website your customers are looking for.
