Building a new Business Website

[J_D]

I've noticed we ahve a few Web Developers / Designers in the crowd at AT.

Would be interested to see what kind of advice and / or tips you guys could give to us other folk when getting a new website or our first website built for our business?

Come on, cough up those industry tips and secrets. heheh

JD

[crackers]

whats the site going to do?

[J_D]

No particular site for me, just awnting to help others :-)

JD

[Brendan]

Hey JD,

Well my 'secret' is pretty simple, ask what my client wants to get from a website for their, then deliver that to them and a little bit more.

So, if the reason for wanting a website was '.. to increase sales and get more leads..' then we would focus on that, but we would also maybe suggest some other benefits of the website, i.e; maybe sell their products online, maybe a members only section, or even booking forms.

A lot of people just say we want a website because we have to have one.. but I dont really know what we are meant to have on it!

So my advice to you is, what is it you want from your website? And how are you going to achieve those results, what is it you need to do to make that happen?

[intergise]

I have to agree with Brendan.

A website is pretty important in this day and age but you need to sit down and work out what the goals of the website are. That way you can ensure that you'll get a website that will support your business goals and give you a return on your investment.

Some other quick points:


Use a professional. Your next-door neighbour's kid might be cheap but you get what you pay for.
Don't get carried away with Flash and animation. Business websites are better off being simple and easy to use. Animation rarely helps a sale and distracts users from the core message. Besides flash site are search engine unfriendly as a rule.
Just having a website isn't enough. You have to market it as well. Consider an search engine optimisation program and add the URl to your branding material
Don't forget to maintain it. There's a lot of websites out there with old, outdated information. Apart from not reflecting too well on the business, they are not useful to their customers and won't rank well with the search engines

[Slade]

Also make sure your developer give you the ability to update it yourself! If you have some quick news you want to put up, or release a product before a competitor you want to make sure you can do it as fast as possible!

[intergise]

Also make sure your developer give you the ability to update it yourself! If you have some quick news you want to put up, or release a product before a competitor you want to make sure you can do it as fast as possible!
They should certainly have the option but many clients don't have the time, tools or inclination to maintain a website.

Any Web firm worth their salt should be able to make an update within 24 hours for standard amendments or sooner on request.