What is Your Website Purpose?
Credibility:
What does your (target market) audience need to know about your business?
- What problem do they have and need to solve?
- Do they need an expert to help them? What do they want?
- Is your business positioned to solve their problem?
- What is your expertise, qualifications, or certifications (when applicable)?
What do you want them to do? This is typically a Call-to-Action (CTA).
Call, email, come to you? Help them along the journey. Buttons are a nice way to highlight the action.
To Blog:
Blogging with WordPress is a good option. Over 30% of websites in 2019 are built in WordPress.
After the design is finished, you can add articles in the form of blog posts, receive comments and reply without spending a large budget on functionality or intervention of a web designer. WordPress does require updates for features and security. Themes and Plugins are key to secure and maintain your website throughout the year.
Caution: Theme/Plugins
You can choose from free to paid or premium versions. Often the free ones are from people establishing themselves or passionate hobbyists. What happens if you run into problems with the code or updates break your website? That is where support or licenses for the use of the Paid or Premium versions comes in.
When you hire a Web Consultant/Designer, let them be the expert. They need to have a clear idea of the purpose and goals for your website. You may need to pay for licenses or premium access for some plugins or themes.
E-commerce:
HTTPS is becoming more important and obtaining SSL certificates for your website involves you, your hosting company and possibly a third-party who provides SSL certificates. Find out more about SSL.
Websites needing secure transactions need a well-established, trusted e-commerce vendor. E-commerce may be as simple as setting up a PayPal account (for example) and making a button or two - or having the ability to send invoices by email. Esty, Square and Shopify are examples of e-commerce that also have the feel of a website and security features built it.
Vendors for shopping carts vary on the level of detail and conditions - ask lots of questions and read the terms before you commit to any e-commerce solution.
Read very carefully what services you are buying and what you will be paying per transaction and any additional fees.
Options can carry a monthly fee, whether you have transactions or not, others involve initial setup fees, others only cost when you actually process a transaction. Be aware of what you are buying and ask if shopping carts are customizable to look like your website...
Marketing:
Websites allow your business to be open 24/7 to help visitors locate products and services that you offer. You may want to provide tips or solutions to customer problems but not offer e-commerce.
Additional tools like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or other similar web content and connecting extras are great - if you will maintain them. You will want to mention those things to your designer/planner so that those costs - if they need to be developed or the existing links to those web assets.
Before you seek quotes on a website:
- Know your website's purpose
- KNOW your audience
- Prepare for development of content for your website.
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- Understand that there are levels of quality, quantity and options - Okay, Good, Better, Best
- Base your budget on what you are wanting in your website
- FREE or DIY opens you to more potential hazards for your content, branding, owning what you are creating...
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- Plan how often you will add fresh content and whether you want to include social networking in the design (Facebook or Twitter posts or a Blog, ...).
Timeframe
Your preparation most likely will save you money and time.
Know your timetable - need a website fast, you may pay a premium or get a design little customization.
Do you have branding? Logos and taglines should carry into your website.
Be ready to answer questions about your business, products and services that you offer. Your ability and willingness to answer will also determine timeframe. Design and completion time relates to your preparation to gather your content. Ask good questions before signing a contract.
If you already have print marketing materials, you have a start on the content for your website. Decide if you want the print media and website to have a similar look or not.
Plan on keeping your website content current and interesting and engaging.
Know if you want interactivity:
Contact forms, subscriptions for freebies or resources, product quote requests, or mailing lists, and so on take additional prep.
MUST HAVE ITEMS determine how complicated your website will be. The price will vary based on features needed.
BUDGET:
Successful businesses have a marketing budget. Don't skimp on including content and lead generation on your website (CTA, contact forms or call buttons).
Your website project can be barebones 1-4 pages to a full blown major project with landing pages, incentive signup, products/services for sale. A phased growth format may work best if your budget is tight - or you are testing if you have a valuable concept.
Often new features or tools can be added in the future. You may ask for a quote that indicates the option (extra features) pricing.
Request a quote from Neal Resources:
email with your intial inquiry: robin@nealresources.com