If you want to make your business succes­sful, it is impor­tant to have a website design that would mar­ket and promote your com­pany to the world and help you build a relation­ship with your cur­rent and pros­pective cus­tomers. To create an effective web site you need a plan. You need to think about what exactly is the pur­pose of your site. Are you going to use it to dis­pense infor­mation to your pros­pects and cus­tomers and create awareness for your brand and products? Or is it an online store that you are con­sidering to sell mer­chan­dise? If you have clarity about the pur­pose of the site, you are off to a good start!


Following are some of the key ques­tions to get star­ted with creating a plan for your web site.

* Who is your tar­get cus­tomer? If they fall in several segments, do you want to create a site that is one size fit all or do you want to nar­row your focus and cater to a smaller segment instead?

* What do your cus­tomers want from your business and the web site?

* What is the end goal of your business and the web site? How does that match up with what your com­petition is doing?

* Do you have a time line to create the website and make it operational?

* How are you going to promote your web site? Unless you go out and tell the world about it, you may not get much traffic to your site.

* What is the best way to use the web site to dis­tribute infor­mation about your business?

* If you want to sell products on you web site do you have a plan for inven­tory management, ship­ping and for proces­sing returns.

* Websites can be a great way to feel the pulse of the mar­ket and get feedback from your cus­tomers. Have you plan­ned for that?

For­tunately, creating an extraordinary web site is not so difficult if you are prepared to let it evolve over a per­iod of time rather than create one in your first attempt. First step is to develop a basic site plan that covers the most impor­tant features you want in your site. If you aspire to be the next eBay of the world, you have to start small and then build on your vision as you go by con­tinuously lear­ning and cor­recting any mistakes.

Building the best site is not enough. You must mar­ket it well to build awareness and tell the world about it. Think about the tools and strategies you will employ to generate traffic. Some of the com­mon strategies are search engine mar­keting, search engine optimization and email mar­keting. You obviously do not have unlimited mar­keting budget. Con­sider the strategy that can get you the most bang for your buck.

Once the traffic starts to your site, it would be time to analyze it and see what is wor­king and what is not. For exam­ple if users are not clic­king fur­ther than the home page then you need to rethink the home page design. If they are placing products in the shop­ping cart but then aban­doning it, you need to review the pur­chasing process. Regularly review the traffic reports, page views, bounce backs, and click through rates to imp­rove the con­tent and navigation of your site and to add new features.

Your website is a reflection of your business and the products and services you are providing to your cus­tomers. However, remem­ber that Rome was not built in a day. Start small, let it evolve over a few mon­ths as you keep your eyes, ears open for feedback from your cus­tomers, and use it to refine and renew the site.

Before you hire a ven­dor, com­pare price quote from mul­tiple web desig­ners.

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