Line Up Those Ducks Before Building Your New Website
DIY Sprocket Solutions
I’m all for taking risks and trying new things, but when it comes to your business website, it’s a waste money and time to start building your website before you answer these five questions:
What do you want visitors to do on your site?
Really, what do you want? If you don’t know yet; you should probably pump the brakes a bit and decide what your direction is. Guess what happens when people visit a website with no clear indication of what the focus of the site is. They scratch their heads and maybe poke around for a bit just to see what the heck is going on, but then they high tail it back to their search engine faster than you can say “Did you just see that customer we just lost?”
How much are you ready to spend?
I work with some pretty talented individuals, but a fully functioning website is not instant and it’s not free. I repeat: Not instant. Not free. I hear you saying: “But I saw an ad online for building a free website tonight.” If your aim is to make your business look more professional, then a free website is not going to get the job done, especially if you don’t have the time to really work at it. This is the time to invest in yourself. After all, why should a customer invest in you if you won’t? That said, you can find options to fit all budgets, so think about that before you get started.
How will you develop the content?
So now you have a focus for your website and you are prepared to invest time and money to do it up right. Are you done? Not quite. Go ahead and take advantage of the latest digital tools so that your new site will work hard as well as look good. Also, create content that is super relevant to the focus of your website and full of appropriate search terms. Do the research needed to make the most of natural SEO.
Who is going to keep up with this new-fangled website?
Content needs updating. Links break. Versions become obsolete.
If you don’t have time to keep up with the changes, you should probably find someone else to manage your website. And by “find” we mean “hire.” Just because Johnny’s girlfriend’s brother is really good at online video games doesn’t mean he’s the best person to be updating your website. Even if he knows what he’s doing, he may not consider you a priority and leave you hanging when you need his help most.
What promoting will you do to support your new site?
You know what they say “If you build it, they will…” – not do anything but sit back and wait for you to promote your own business! We have a ton of other posts on this website talking about the importance of social media in getting the word out about your website and your service or product. People are way overloaded with information, so you have to keep reminding them of what you have to offer. That could be you, but it might make more sense to sign someone else up for that task. Give us a call to see how we can take that job on for you.
As a business owner, you’ll have plenty of opportunities for risk-taking. Launching a mediocre website should not be one of them. So save yourself some grief by getting your ducks in a row before you start building that new website. Then once those quackers are lined up nice and straight, contact us and we’ll get started.
This is an update to “Consider Considering These 5 Things” dated 2/13/2013.
Breanne Bannon
Breanne is a Content Writer, Social Media Marketeer, and Sales Associate for Sprocket Websites.
Other posts by Breanne Bannon