Website Education & Planning Guide

Understanding the Fundamentals

Do you really need a web site?

Or do you just want one because you’ve been told you need one these days?
Maybe you have been told to get one before your competition does?
Will a web site really help your business?

If you were the owner of Jerry’s donuts, would you benefit from a web site? Probably not; when was the last time you logged on to see how many sugar donuts Jerry had in stock?

However, some businesses match perfectly with a web site. If you’re a business that wants to:

	Sell products, services
	Educate
	Entertain
	Communicate a common interest
	Attract new business
	Retain current clients
	Convey information to reduce phone traffic

Then for you, developing a website can be golden.

So who is the web site for anyway?

If you decide to develop a website, then you need to know that the person whose needs will be paramount in this effort is --- THE CUSTOMER! How your website appears to you, your management or workers – that’s immaterial. The Customer will be the one who, in the end, will show you if your website is a success.

Ask yourself this. What am I offering my customer?

You need to decide if you’re offering products, or a service you provide. Perhaps you’re educating them. Or you might be offering your customers entertainment. You could also be providing information your customers will want to use.

What are my customer’s needs?

Make sure all their requirements are met. Suppose you are a freelance photographer. You will most likely have your images on your site, the printable dimensions and prices for each print and size, as well as a payment and checkout page. This seems to be all that the customer needs to know for the sale.

Did you ever think that the customer might be sending the photo as a gift and needs it drop shipped to an alternate location on a specific date?

It’s important to take in all scenarios when planning your web site. If we determine most of your customer’s requirements up front, development of your website will be painless and pleasant.

What tasks will my customer need to perform?

People will go to your web site with specific tasks in mind. Our job is to make sure that they can complete those tasks, promptly, economically and without difficulty. How many times have you been to a site looking for something, only to find it buried deep somewhere else in the website? How many times have you had to hunt for a phone number that should have been displayed in plain view or at least in the contact page? The goal here is to make information easily available – easy to reach.

What value does your web site offer?

Aside from the primary purpose of your web site, your web site should have real value that will encourage the client to return. For example, a photo lab might have a 20% off coupon for film they are overstocked on (only good when printed from the website and presented in person). Another idea would be for a cookware site to provide weekly cooking tips, or to raffle off cookware once a month. Things like these will keep clients returning, the more exposure, the better.

By simply imagining the various ways your web site will be used by your customer, and offering them reasons to return, a truly successful web site can be developed.

This is what separates a mundane & unsuccessful site from an outstanding, successful web site experience.