Shopping for a NEW Web Site!

What to expect when you want a web site for the first time.

Whether you are looking at our company to assist you in your new web site design and development needs or your are researching the internet and getting various quotes, here are some helpful tips that will better prepare you and help your new web design company give you the most accurate quote possible.

In the many years of working with small business owners I have experienced that few know how to be prepared when it comes to approaching the subject of their web site. It is as if a red flag suddenly went up and they forget all they ever knew about their products or services.

A good designer will work with you and explain “what is what” during each step; however, here are some basic tips on what you should provide your prospective web site designer with when asking for a quote.

Help your Web Site Designer understand YOUR business:

1. You are the expert on your business! Your designer is just that, a designer. He will take the information you provide and put it in a graphically pleasing and easy-to-navigate form on the internet. Help your designer by having relevant text about your business ready. Here are a few things to prepare and have ready:
   
   • What are three key words you would use to describe your business (that is, words you would use to search for your kind of business in a search engine)?
   • Sum up your business in three sentences – your service, your motto, your goal.
   • When thinking about different aspects of your business, for each category have approx 100-300 words. Be informative without sales pitch. Be specific and try to include words that describe the nature of your business.
2. It is extremely helpful to utilize your own pictures, but they must be in a high resolution format. Copies of copies from printed matter will look less than professional, and will reflect badly on your overall business approach. If you don’t have any pictures, think of what you would like, and your web-site designer will help you choose from stock photos.
3. If at all possible, have your logo in the same file format available as you gave it to your printer. Again, taking a logo design from a printed card of letterhead is extremely hard to work with. Often the fonts used will not be available to match.
4. Know your target audience: Who you are aiming to reach may influence your design choice.
5. Are you planning on selling products and/or services? If so, how many? This will determine if you need a separate shopping cart function.
6. Do you want to include picture galleries or videos? Let your designer know in advance.
7. Know your budget!

The more specifics you have ready to work with, the faster and smoother your design will be completed. Remember, you are the expert about your business. If your designer has to write content for you, he will need more time to research your line of business.

A word of caution: Sometimes a good web-site designer will want to rephrase your text in order to make it more search engine friendly. If that is the case, please do not take it as criticism of your personal writing abilities, rather, accept is as a suggestions from the expert in his field on how to improve the effectiveness of your site for the purposes of achieving greater visibility through the Internet.
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