Developing a new website for your business can be as painless and hopefully as enjoyable as possible for all parties involved. Proper planning goes a long way to ensure this. The following is not an exhaustive list of everything you may want to consider from the get-go, but it will go some way to not only give you some clarity in what you really want and gives us the opportunity to discuss, advise and come to an accurate costing of the project.
Information for you to consider and time permitting, prepare and provide.
Business & Brand Information
Business Details: A description of your company, what you do, and your mission.
Branding Assets: Your logo files, any existing brand guidelines, and specific company colors.
Existing Materials: Brochures, press materials, or other existing content that the new website should match.
Goals & Objectives
Website Purpose: Clearly define what you want the website to achieve (e.g., generate leads, sell products, provide information).
User Actions: Specify what you want visitors to do on the site and what key takeaways you want them to have.
Content
Text Content: Provide basic text for pages like AboutUs, your mission, and services. We can and will help make any textual content optimised for search engines.
(Read more on SEO below & our article on SEO Basics )
Visuals: Gather relevant photos, videos, and any stock imagery you plan to use.
Content Structure: Have an idea of your website’s overall content. With this in hand, we can advise you on the best way to design the website in terms of information architecture.
E-Commerce Considerations
We’ll assume that you have found a correct price point for your products and, where appropriate, suitable delivery charges.
Product imagery: Have you all product imagery ready or have you yet to photograph your product catalogue?
Top tip: Shooting product imagery from the same angle and lighting for every product makes the site looks so much more consistent & professional. Not doing so; you can very quickly create a storefront resembling a street bazaar or jumble sale.
Product Description: Have you product descriptions ready for your products? Don’t skimp on a good product description.
Payment Options: Make sure you have a business account set up for whichever payment options that you will be offering on site. (Stripe | Paypal | Link etc)
Returns / Terms & Conditions: Write up a clear set of terms & conditions / refund policy and procedures.
Audience & Competitors
Target Audience: Describe your main demographics.
Competitor Websites: List websites your competitors have and identify what you like or dislike about them.
Budget
Project Budget: Have a budget plan for the website. Costs vary depending on the project’s complexity. Budget for continued maintenance / care plan for your businesses website.
Style & Functionality
Desired Style: Compile a list of websites with designs you admire. You may have a few sites, each with a unique functionality that you may think would be perfect for your project.
Key Features: Mention any specific functionalities or features you want on the new site. You do not have to be overly technical.
SEO ( Search Engine Optimisation)
We focus on SEO from the ground up when developing your new website.
Technical SEO and On page SEO are included in your initial build. It is not an after thought. With that in mind, note down several keywords and key phrases for which you will want to rank well.
As SEO is an on-going process, it will succeed or fail depending on the continual care and attention that it demands.
