Custom Web Design

Custom Websites for Online Courses & Membership sites

Web Care Plans

We host and maintain your website for you!

QuickStart Website

Get your site launched quickly and professionally

Website Design Guide

Free Guide! Learn what makes your website project a success

VIEW ALL SERVICES

Discussion – 

0

Plan your Website Project so It won’t be Obsolete as soon as you Launch It

Plan your Website so It won’t be Obsolete as soon as you Launch It

You’ve decided you want a new website, so what do you do next? I’m going to give you few tips to prepare before you even start talking to a web designer or developer to get your site built out.

Let’s be clear, you’re not going to want to take on this project all by yourself. Yes, designing a website is a project. And in your heart of hearts, you already know that it’ll never get done if a professional isn’t guiding you, and if you do happen to pull it off by yourself, chances are high that your new website is not going to showcase your talents and offerings in the most efficient manner.

You need help with your website strategy but don’t know where to begin. Let’s get you started with a shortlist of what you need in order to be prepared for that first talk with a website design strategist.

First of all, start with the goal in mind. But also be aware of what comes after you reach your goals. By taking this strategic approach, you can create a website that won’t already be obsolete on launch day. Unfortunately, that does happen.

Your thought process might go something like this:

  1. This is what we will build
  2. As a result, our clients will be able to…
  3. Then they can …..
  4. And this is how we will nurture them along their journey, from beginning to end
  5. At the end of the line, we want them to … on our website
  6. What if step 3 didn’t work?
  7. We’re not planning on offering A, B, or C …. yet (save for a future project)
  8. We will not offer D, C, or E … unless … (too many offers can create confusion)
  9. Of course we haven’t even taken … in to consideration (what are we missing here?)

(You know your S.M.A.R.T goals, right?)

Step One: What do you want your customers to be able to achieve when they land on your website after it launches? How about 1 year from now? How about 3 years from now?

You always have to be thinking ahead. So when you’re when you’re on step one. You should always be aware of step three.

So what does that mean? The typical analogy is “Why do you need to buy insurance for your house or car? The same goes for health or life insurance for your family members.”

These are all things that you will support your happy lifestyle. If any of these are taken away, it will have a negative affect on your life. That’s why we invest in insurance to help us when bad things happen. And no matter how much we prepare for the worst, we only have so much control over our own circumstances.

So we hope for the best and plan for the worst. And we learn from our mistakes and make changes as we go to give us our best chances of success and happiness.

The same thing happens with your website. If you don’t think it through before you get started, chances are high that you’re going to run into issues all along the way. So what are some things that you need to think about first when planning your new or redesigned website?

Step 2: Put your website on a platform that is flexible, scalable and allows your business to grow.

Plan for website to be a flexible marketing system that can scale as your business grows.

First of all, what platform will your website reside on? There are several options, such as WordPress, Wix, SquareSpace, or even hand-coded html websites. So which do you choose?

Quick answer: You don’t, your web strategist does this for you. They have the knowledge and experience required to make results oriented decisions so you don’t have to.

I started off hand coding websites in html, php, and mysql databases. They took a long time to build out and while I did create an interface for updating content, it was clunky, no one else knew how to maintain it, and it was a pain to keep the code up to date with current standards. Oh, and that wasn’t my main job, so I had to find time on nights and weekends to keep it running and up to date.

I now prefer the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) because it is wildly popular around the world, has a vast developer base, and is constantly being updated and upgraded. We also now know that WordPress is used by 63.2% of all the websites whose content management system we know. This is 43.1% of ALL websites. It was designed to make it fairly easy to add new functionality to a site using popular plugins. If you want to offer a particular kind of experience to your website visitors, chances are someone else has already figured out a way to do it and there is a way to make it happen that doesn’t require months or years of coding.

Ask yourself these questions:

  1. Do I want to keep my website content fresh? (Tip: Search Engines like fresh content because people want fresh/current content.)
  2. Do I want to spend my time updating my website myself? Or do I want to focus on my business and have someone maintain and update it for me?
  3. Do I want my website (a.k.a my marketing machine) to reflect my brand and values?
  4. Do my products or services change often enough that someone will need to be able to easily login and make sure changes are reflected in a timely manner?
  5. Do I need to sell physical or digital products or services?
  6. Will I EVER want to sell something via my website (like a singing program or voice pedagogy course)?
  7. Do I (or will I ever) want to offer bespoke services or content that only members will have access to?

Knowing these things and expressing them to the agency that will produce your website right from the beginning of the project will increase your likelihood of success. They can plan out the platform and tools you will need FOR YOU so you can focus on what you do best.

Step 3: Know your business. Know your offerings and who wants them.

What is your message and who is your ideal client or customer?

Do you know what you offer? Silly question, I know. It’s also amazing how little we tend to think about this before we get started.

Maybe it is as simple as “I sell jelly beans.” Your digital strategist will ask you targeted questions like, “Okay, what color? How big are they? Are they only for kids, or do adults eat them too? Do they come in a box? Do you make them at home and people come pick them up, or do you ship them out? Or are they someone else’s beans and you’re just in the middle? Can you teach people to make their own jelly beans?”

Here are some things to consider about your products and services:

  1. How many products do I have? Are they physical or digital goods? (Digital would be something like an eBook or PDF that is downloadable.)
  2. Do I need to collect money? If so, do I want to offer payment options?
  3. What varieties of my products are available? Different sizes? Multiple booking dates?
  4. Who buys my products now? Who might buy them if they were available online?
  5. Can I offer new services now that they are available to a worldwide customer base electronically?
  6. Are my offerings complicated? Can I simplify them?
  7. Can I provide more than I am offering? What other ways do people benefit from my business?
  8. What kind of financial investment am I realistically willing to make in order to bring this project to fruition?
  9. What kind of timeframe am I looking at? Do I have a reason for a deadline?
  10. How will I measure success?

Sound overwhelming? Well, it is a process that should not be taken lightly. Failure to think this through could cost you dearly in time and money.

Nevertheless, no matter how much strategy you put into it, things can and will change throughout the process. However, the more prepared you are from the beginning, the easier it will be to adapt and move forward. And the more you adapt and move forward, the higher your chances of launching a successful website without regrets.

If you’ve already thought this through and are ready to get your website project started, get in touch with us here to see if we’re a good fit. HINT: We’re going to ask you for a lot of this information just to apply!

Are you excited about your project, but not sure where to begin? We can help you out with a strategic “Discovery Session” to help bring out the answers above, and more. Book a Discovery call to go into the details of what your website should include. (All of our website projects begin with a discovery session, we call ours the Baseline Generator.)

Need help with your website? Check Out Our Care Plans

Keith Eldridge

A digital strategist dedicated to helping you find the highest quality solutions for your online business needs - delivered with originality, creativity and ingenuity.

Living in Hiroshima, Japan, Keith loves Tai Chi, Qigong and Yin/Yang theory. He also creates healing art embedded with his own original musical compositions.

Keith Eldridge

A digital strategist dedicated to helping you find the highest quality solutions for your online business needs - delivered with originality, creativity and ingenuity. Living in Hiroshima, Japan, Keith loves Tai Chi, Qigong and Yin/Yang theory. He also creates healing art embedded with his own original musical compositions.

0 Comments

You May Also Like

The Road to Divi 5: What You Need to Know

The Road to Divi 5: What You Need to Know

Get ahead of the game! Learn about the current development phase of Divi 5 and how to prepare for its release. Find out about the benefits of this foundational update and how it can improve the performance and stability of your website. Don’t wait, start preparing for the upgrade now. #Divi5 #WordPress #WebDesign