Website Development – Key Components of a Website Plan for small and mid-sized companies

Thinking on developing a website? No matter what type of business you have, if it’s a large or small company, you need to have a website if you are to have any real chance of keeping up with competitors and achieve customer satisfaction. That’s the way of doing business nowadays and probably the best option to promote your company as well.

First, ask yourself what kind of website you want to have. Designing a website should not be treated like a digital brochure. A company that decides to create or redesign their website needs a formal approach for the development and the promotional aspects. It is no different than any other business plan; it needs a clear understanding of the business’ objectives, a budget and project management skills.

Many people start their website idea by how they want it to look like. You must first think of what part of your overall marketing strategy is it going to fulfill. For example, how are you going to attract customers using the web? What kind of feedback mechanism are you going to allow (forms, e-mail link, blog posts)? Are you going to change the information frequently, will you place ads from other sites or external products, etc.? It is also good idea to establish a short-term and long-term development plan.

Effective Project Management

The first task the project manager is to complete is the identification of the key team members. Team members must identify the strategies they plan on implementing within their areas of expertise, communicate their plans and outline their future requirements. The Project Manager should also identify the elements that will support promotional efforts, visibility over search engines, and fulfill the business’ and website visitors’ needs. This may appear to be common sense, but it is not the common route. Skipping these steps often create the need to change the content and layout of the website after it is completed — a waste of time and resources.

Budget

Time is money and it couldn’t be more obvious than when you are paying a developer to design or create software code. So once you have established the objective of the website, the key players, and plans to get there, you must determine the amount of resources and cash available. You don’t have to create a website with all the “bells and whistles” from the very beginning. Focus on creating a functional website with the correct navigation first, and then dedicate resources for fancy details. This may turn into a Phase A (simple, functional) and Phase B (Plan A plus the “bells and whistles”).

We hope this all makes sense. It is not good when a company realizes that their website is not supporting their business after money and resources have been spent. This usually creates the situation where managers become resistant to spending additional resources on the web, and the company never takes advantage of this awesome tool.

The Internet is your Global Image. Don’t let a bad looking website ruin it…

Live Connexus has many years of experience developing websites, web hosting and web content; we will meet with you to understand your market strategy, what you need to communicate and your specific business situation. We will provide you with a solid estimate on the project completion, and give you access to the content as it is being develop to ensure it meets your needs.

We won’t just build you a great website; we can integrate it to your marketing strategy with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media, CMS, a shopping cart and many other tools.

Start your website now with Live Connexus!