Tampa website design and hosting

Shawn - July 27th, 2010

Top Ten Things to Consider Before You Have Your Website Built

We design and host websites for a living so we know how to manage a project and do all that great webmaster stuff that brings all the elements together.

And whether or not you as a client have creative sensibilities, you know what you like. While we can make just about anything work, your input is the thing that is ultimately going to put the unique stamp on the site.

We therefore think it is always a good idea for a client to take stock of the things that are important to them in a website before we even start the design process.

So here are our Top Ten Things to Think About (or Have!) Before you Sit Down with Us or Any Professional Website Designer:

1. You should have your content complete. There’s nothing more frustrating for everyone than to have the site complete and not an About Us to be found. Videos only go so far…you need tangibility of the verbiage kind.
2. Make sure you have a digital copy of your logo (the higher the resolution the better).
3. Pick two or three websites that you really like (if they are competitors of yours, that’s even better) and what you like about them.
4. Pick two or three websites you don't like (also competitors, if possible) and what you don't like about them.
5. Jot down colors that appeal and ones you can’t be bothered with.
6. Think about the primary goals of your website:
   1. Are you selling products?
   2. Lead generating?
   3. Are you primarily offering customer service and support?
   4. Do you need to reduce incoming phone calls?
7. Who is your audience?
8. Determine how frequently the website will be updated; you may or may not want a content management system, but it will enable you to revise your site’s verbiage.
9. If it's an e-commerce site:
   1. What type of payments do you want to accept?
   2. How do you want the shipping charges calculated?
   3. How many products are going to be sold on the website?
10. Think a year ahead if you can…it is always easier and more affordable to build for growth in the beginning then to go back and add later. 

No two projects are alike (good thing…otherwise we’d go crazy!), but these fundamental questions go really far toward getting your website working right out of the box.