“What kind of site should we create?!”
I’ve heard this question from clients many times in the past. And as more websites continue to become a profit-generating medium, the same question continues to haunt many of today’s businesses owners who try to tap into this channel.
Whether you’re thinking of a web design overhaul or just starting to build your own site, determining your web design needs is crucial to the success of your project. So here are some guidelines to help put a more detailed perspective into your web design requirements.
Identify your goals for your website
To help you identify which layout or functionality best suits your business needs, you need to determine what you want your website to do. Is it to sell products or services? Do you want to establish thought leadership in your industry? Would you like to drive more leads to your physical store?
In addition, ask yourself how much time, money, and resources you are willing to give to this project. This will help you manage your expectations.
Identify measurable, attainable metrics
Be realistic. You may set the success metrics based on how much you’ve invested to put up the entire site. Depending on the purpose of your site, estimate how you can specifically gauge end-user behavior. At the end of each month, identify the metrics you need to focus on. Do you want to know how many people signed up for your newsletter? Perhaps your main objective is to quantify how many sales you closed in a week or month.
Don’t jump into the art design stage right away. Spend more time in knowing which metrics to track. It won’t make sense having a perfectly designed website if it doesn’t serve the purpose you intended for it.
Determine your brand positioning
Identifying business goals and metrics only answers the question on how you can make money out of your site. Brand positioning, on the other hand, focuses on the approach you’ll use to drive the behavior or result you want to achieve.
Positioning lets you attach core values to your brand which you’d like to resonate with your customers. It should be strong enough to convey the primary benefit that end-users can get from your site and this should differentiate you from the rest of your competition.
Clearly convey your preferences
Don’t just stick to vague descriptions such as: “I want the site to be the best retail clothing destination on the web”… or “I’d like to reinvent our brand image and introduce a totally new look and feel to so and so…”
Think like your customers. Identify the things you’d want to see in a website that offers the products you need. Be very particular when communicating your needs to the designer or web design agency of your choice. It’s true that a great web design partner is someone who makes you a vital part of the design process, but be sure you give them valuable inputs they could easily translate into design. If you can’t fully explain the look and feel you want, try to browse through the Internet and look for websites that more or less resemble the colors, layout, and images you want.
If you’re set on (re)designing your website, a lot of research goes a long way. Having a custom site designed specifically to meet your business needs will help provide better online exposure for your brand. 365Outsource.com provides best-of-class web design services to meet the needs of all types of businesses. Call us today to learn more.