Planning- The first step in website design
The first step in making a good website is to give information to the agency. The agency must get to know the client well and their business even better. If your agency isn’t fully aware of your business they can’t make a good website.
Planning is an important step because it involves a good understanding of the company, its nature and the industry it operates in.
You must get a clear understanding of the following:-
- Purpose: What is the purpose of your site? Do you want to sell a product or service? Or just a mere online presence is enough?
- Goals: What is your final goal for developing this site? Do you want to combat competition? Expand your business? The goal is the final outcome that you want to accomplish through your site.
- Target: The target audience of your website is similar to the target audience of your business products. The demographics of the target audience should be clear because all the other things will be based on that colour scheme, graphics, etc.
- Features: What kind of features do you want on your site. Perhaps a ‘Sign up/Log In’ or ‘Download Now’ in case you’re offering something downloadable like eBook or PDF file. Features like animations and effects that you want should also be explained to the agency.
- Content: The most important part of your website is the content you put on it. You must supply your agency with the content. After all, you know your business better than the developer. Content will be guided by the kind of audience you’re targeting.
- Competition: Identify what your competition is offering on the web. What is the purpose of their online presence? Are they selling and if yes do you want to too? Can you offer something better than your competitor?