10 Things to Consider When Designing a Website - Part 1

Designing or re-designing a website is a big undertaking. There are many things to consider when embarking on a new website design or re-design. Some companies jump right in and unfortunately don’t go through the necessary exercises or ask themselves the big questions when starting the web design process. This blog post focuses on the first five things to consider when designing your website to ensure it is designed with your business needs and goals in mind.

1. Who is your audience?

This is a big one. Who is this website for? If you're not sure who you are talking to, how do you know what you should say? I've had clients that have two audiences that they want to design one website for, which is tricky. For example, I had a recruiting company client who needed a website mostly for their business clients, but they also wanted an area of the website for candidates who were looking for jobs, so we had to carefully craft a message that worked for both audiences. Another client of mine is a gym who also has two main audiences that will visit their site, their trainers, and their gym members. Content for both needed to be included, so it was important to design a website that communicated the gym’s value proposition to both audiences.

2. What is the purpose of your website? What do you want your audience to know, and what action, if any, do you want them to take?

In other words, what are your main objectives for the website? Selling products or services from the website? To highlight your portfolio of work? To educate your audience? It's important to know what your end goal is in order to focus your efforts in the right direction. This helps you flesh out the "meat" of your website and then work from there.

3a. Find the right web designer for you!

This is a really important part. Do your research and look at other similar websites in your industry. What do you like? Not like? Get a good idea of the "look" you want to have for your website and the content you want to include. Then, start looking for a designer whose portfolio of work suits you and your goals for your site.  Talk with them and make sure they understand your goals for your website, review their proposal and make sure you feel comfortable with it. Ask them specific questions about the payment schedule and what deliverables you get at each stage.

3b. What is your plan for maintaining your website when the initial design is complete?

Do you want to have control over your website when its initial design is complete? Or do you prefer that someone else maintains your site ongoing? This is very important. Some designers complete the project and turn it over to you to maintain with a working back-end. Others will offer maintenance services for an ongoing fee. Keep in mind that websites should be updated on a consistent basis with fresh content. So, you need to have a way to update your website ongoing. Ask specific questions of your designer about ongoing maintenance. For example, will I be able to update text, photos, schedules, events, blog posts, etc? Is SEO work included on a monthly website maintenance retainer?

4. Scalability / Growth

Make sure your website design is built with scalability in mind. Will you eventually want an online store, a blog, a user’s forum, a news section, new web pages, new menu drop downs, forms, etc? Make sure you have the flexibility to add these features without having to redesign your entire site.

5. Website - Your Online Hub

I believe that your website is the center, or hub, of your online presence. People will visit your site to learn about your business, leadership, mission, services or products, industry-related information, contact info, and more. Your site needs to be attractive, engaging, informative, user-friendly, and answer the questions that a potential client or customer needs answered. When using social media, you will want to drive visitors to your website by linking to it to showcase your products, services, or informative content. So it is of vital importance that your website is current and engaging, mobile responsive and that you have an easy way to update the information on a consistent basis. A great website is a smart way to start your online business presence...and then move on from there with online directory listings, social media, blogging, etc.

For more information on Infuse Marketing’s services, contact us or schedule a free introductory call to assess your needs.

Infuse Marketing, LLC

Infuse Marketing is a marketing consultancy offering fractional CMO services, marketing strategy, marketing analysis and marketing management services.