To build an effective, profitable, and customer-driven site, you need to dedicate more time and effort to information gathering and planning. The following are some guidelines that will help you build a successful website.
What are your specific goals?
Do you want a brochure site? Do you intend to sell services and/or products? Are you focused on branding and company awareness? Information and content? Social network communities? You need to think through this aspect since it will form the foundation of your overall strategy. Find websites within your industry which you can emulate. It is okay to borrow ideas, as long as you personalize them.
Measure of success
Usually, businesses succeed when specific goals are imposed on them. By having a clear goal, be it generating online income or attracting a certain number of visitors to your site, you enhance your chances of success. Take time to list down your goals. Remember that this list could change as your site advances, depending on the direction and growth of your organization and industry. However, you need to have a vision and mission statement for your site to help you remain focused on the big picture.
Your visitors
A well-developed and well-designed site is useless without visitors. If your site can’t be found, you will not be successful. To develop a proper design and marketing strategy, you need to understand your target audience. In addition, you need to research your competitors and industry thoroughly.
Marketing
If you have a marketing strategy, think of how your site will integrate and fit with the materials and overall strategies. Research and find out which keywords will create a buzz and generate traffic for you.
Resources
Identify and assemble a team for your project. As project manager, you are responsible for assigning responsibilities such as design, content writing, development and programming, IT support and online marketing. Keep in mind issues such as budgets, software and training.
Content is king
Make sure you spend the resources and time necessary to create quality content for your pages. If you just copy and paste other people’s content, you will lose credibility. Consider the flow of your content and the overall architecture. Can users navigate your pages site easily? Ease of use was a major consideration when developing my blog which features webhostingpad discounts and register.com coupons.
Functionality
Which functionality should your site offer? Forums? An e-commerce/shopping cart? Memberships? Blogs? Advance functionality requires software, hardware, and a competent programmer. It is vital to consider how functionality will affect your technical resources and overall budget.
Author Bio: Charles Mburugu often writes about social media and technology. He also blogs about special coupon and discount offers such as webhostingpad discounts and register.com coupons. He is currently writing for a coupon blog that offers webhostingpad code and register.com coupon codes.