We were just voted “Best Answer” for an answer we provided for a “Linked In” question…so we thought we’d share it with you. Who knows? It might info you need as well!

Question: how to go about get my website designed ?

Answer (From Fuelhaus):
Here’s some steps that should help you get rolling!

1) What is the purpose of your website? Is it to sell, inform, schedule appointments, provide an address and contact information? It sounds obvious, but I can’t tell you how many blank looks I get when I ask clients this question. They know they want one, but they never really thought about all that it could do for them. Remember, your website is a sales/marketing tool….and technology allows us to add some pretty cool functionality to the site, making you website a working extension of your business!

2) What content do you want on the site? Visit similar sites, or sites that you like, decide what the main navigation of your site would be. Do you want to provide articles or other types of information? If so, plan how this would fit within your navigation. It doesn’t have to be perfect or complete, but you want a good, thoughtful list before speaking with a web designer.

3) What assets do you have? Do you have a logo, graphics or photography that you want to use in the site? If you’re going to need content, will you write it, or will you want to hire the web company to develop it for you? The clearer picture the web company has as to scope of work, the more accurate your quote will be.

4) Will you want to update the site regularly, and do it yourself? If so, your web company can help you develop a Content Management System that allows you to add pages, photos, content etc as you wish. This can be an investment, though, so honestly tell the web developer how, what and how often you will need to update your site. It may be most cost-effective to have them do it for you.

5) What’s your timeframe? Is there a hard deadline for your project? A website project—depending upon it’s complexity—can take as few as 6 weeks to 15 months to develop….but a great web design company can help you set goals, phases and interim solutions if you have a tight deadline.

Remember, a tighter schedule increases the cost. Being flexible can help you negotiate a better deal.

6) What’s your budget? You may not want to tell your web company your budget right off the bat, but it’s important. Great web designers want to help you incorporate website functionality that is realistic to your budget. (For example, you may want an email marketing component built in to the site, but you don’t have the budget. Your design company could help you create an interim solution that accommodates your more limited budget. )

Having a realistic budget in mind before you get to the meeting will help you plan your site.

7) Find a great web design company. Look for one who will spend time explaining the process to you, the flexibility to listen to your ideas and the creativity to implement them. They should also have a very organized, well-developed proposal/contract, one that clearly identifies the project, the content (sitemap) and scope of work.

This is critical…because web design can change in scope quickly. It’s a very “hours based” business. You want to make sure that you and the design company have talked about how you will handle this if/when it happens.

Hope this helps

| | | | | |