Ashford web design Ashford Kent

Planning your Website

Hopefully you've found your way here because you're thinking of getting a website for your business or you need your old website updating.

If you've got a clear idea of the sort of website you want then you can probably skip this section, but if you're a bit bewildered as to where to start, Designs, Styles, Content etc. Then this is a good place to start.

Getting Started

The best thing to do when shopping for a website is to do some window shopping. Look at websites offered by others in your field of expertise, think about what you like about their websites and what you don't. What you could use on your site and what wouldnt work. If you find a site you like, thats good. Of course we don't advocate copying somebody else's site, but it is important to get a good idea of the kind of content you'd like to offer and how you want to offer it. Think about:-

1. Your objectives behind getting a website.
   • Is it purely to serve as an online access point to your business?
   • A kind of Virtual Business card?
   • Maybe its a brochure, illustrating your products and services?
2. Your unique selling point or USP.
   • What is it you want to get across about your USP and 'How' can you best achieve it?
   • Do you want to use images, sound? Video footage?

List these things down and pass them to your webdesigner they can then start to plan your site with you, working out the mechanics that make these things above available on your site 24/7.

The Visual Aspects of your Website

Do you have a company logo that can be adapted to fit your website?

Even if its just a plain text logo that uses certain colours, this is a good place for us to start. We can come up with a range of ideas and you can choose the one you think fits best.

As we've mentioned before (and before we're done we'll more than likely mention again), we use CSS to design our websites. CSS is a great medium for getting a visually appealing site that still maintains Web standards.

Another method designers use is Macromedia flash. FLASH can be inflexible and inaccessibile however so using Flash means you run the risk of cutting off a section of your potential client base. If you really would like to use Flash though its not a web crime, speak to your designer about how you can implement flash effectively without compromising the integrity of your site.

Site Content

Well written content is essential to your website. If its not well written, however appealing the website looks, site traffic wont transfer into business. We ask you to provide the written content because we feel that the person that knows your business best is you.

We are happy to help and guide you however in any ways that we can or if necessary recommend professionals who will write the material with you to ensure that your content really hits the mark.

Owning your own website

So you've written your content, agreed with your designer the layout of your site, what you hope to achieve from the site and the facilities you will offer, so what else is there to think about? The following is a list of areas you need to be aware of to ensure your site continues to do good work, long after its inception.

1. Hosting
   • In simple terms this is the place where your website is stored. Good hosting ensures your site is available 24/7. So you need to ensure you have an adequate hosting package for the number of visitors you are receiving (How many times have you revisited a site that kicks you out first time?)
   • We offer packages which include hosting with our servers. We can tailor the requirements to suit the visitor traffic you expect. If you would like to talk this through with us please give us a call.
     
     
2. Domain Registration
   • Your domain name is essential to your company profile online, we always recomend that if you are buying the .co.uk you also buy the .com because if you develop a successful web business, you don't want somebody with either a similar business or one that is degrading to yours, setting up with the alternate webname.
   • We can work with you to choose your domain name and register them for you on your behalf for 2 years. Beyond that we will be able to renew them on your behalf, should you wish us to.
     
     
3. Search Engine Optimization
   • Search Engine Optimization is far from an exact science (don't let anybody kid you otherwise) with the different search engines constantly moving the goal posts it can be a challenge to meet all the the requirements of all the search engines.
   • There are several things we can do however to get you to a good position to start with and keeping the site active and constantly perfecting the site to appeal to the SEOs does a lot to keeping you in a good position. For more information on this please give us a call.
     
     
4. Traffic monitoring
   • Don't worry, this doesnt involve a yellow coat and a clipboard, monitoring traffic to your site is just a case of either getting the right hosting with the right faciliities online or getting the right software to add on. We can sort this for you here either way so either:
     • You can keep an eye on movement yourself, or
     • We can do it for you and discuss ways of increasing traffic if required

So thats it! The Black and White Pixels Guide to starting and running your own website, hope it wasn't too painful. If you need any further advice then please either drop us an email or give us a call.