“Websites That Work As Hard As You Do”
…for the site to actually work hard, you need a solid plan.
You are ready to take the plunge into the new website. That’s great! Before going any further however, here are some questions to consider. 1Know your target audience
You know who your target demographic is. We will want to know more about your target audience, and will develop a strategy how to engage them.
What is the goal of your website?
Do you want to display only your basic contact information and services? Will you be displaying your inventory online, but not selling? Or, Do you need a full e-commerce solution for payment processing? Understanding what you want your website to accomplish is an important step in the process.
Once potential clients and customers are at your site, what will they be looking for?
Now that they are at your site, what will you be trying to convey to them? Will they be looking for information about your newest service or will they be buying a product? If your online visitor only has 5 seconds to look at your website, what are three or four things you want them to see in those first few seconds?
Content
Content is what is going to drive people to your website and keep them interested. Having a properly outlined navigational menu and accompanying content will help expedite our website project quote process, and improve the timeliness with the implementation of your website. If you already have written a plan for how your website menu will be organized, and have written your content for each which is ready to go in an electronic format (MS WORD doc, MS Windows Notepad, or an email), you will go along way towards saving yourself money in the overall design quote! A lot of design time is consumed in this phase, so if you have this completed, you will drastically cut down the project timeframe. We are not content writers, so all clients must provide their own content, however we do have excellent writer affiliates that can help craft your content for you. We can talk about that!
How often will you need to update the content?
McQ Web Design offers a variety of solutions for content management. First, we believe the client should have the ability to edit and add new web pages without our intervention! It’s far less expensive in the long run for clients to self-manage their website content! We help you learn how to do that! Additionally, having an up to date website will not only increase your search engine rank standings, but give customers and potential clients a reason to come back. We do offer maintenance plans to help you with back-end website maintenance if needed, which includes content management, redesign work, and critical software security updates and website backups.
Artwork
This is important. Chances are your printer may have a high resolution logo, or the graphic artist who created it initially. Please get it ready for us! Acceptable file formats include, .AI, .EPS, .PSD (.PSD is only acceptable for web design). Additionally, webpages really come alive when great photos and images are used. Do you have your own photography, or will you need assistance choosing stock photography for your website?
Domain Name
Your domain name is very important (ie, your www.yourbusinessname.com). Choosing an intuitive, easily typed domain name will help your customers and potential clients find your site. Something short, to the point, and easily remembered is always best.
Web Hosting
In order for you website to visible on the World Wide Web, you must place your files on a computer which will serve web pages. This is called a web server. McQ Web Design offers web hosting services, but we do not require you to host with us.
Search Engines
What do you think people would type into a search engine to reach your website? What keywords or key phrases? Are you looking for pay-per click search engine performance, or organic search placement (where you do not pay for each webs visitor to click on your website). If you are looking for organic search results, McQ Web Design is a fantastic company to choose for your design project. We have demonstrated great success with many local clients in search engine ranking performance. We know how to design a website for optimal performance, however it doesn’t stop there. A lot of our success is based on content design suggestions, and many many other factors. We will educate you on successful strategies, as well as the commonly-used tactics to avoid at all costs!
Who are you currently using for email services? This is important because if we switch your website hosting to accommodate your new website, email accounts that use your domain name (example: John@YourBusinessName.com) will be effected unless we change email records on the new hosting account to accommodate your existing email set up. It is important to know which service manages your email. We will talk about that!
Cost
Anything is possible, all it just takes time and budgeting! Having a specified budget in mind will help us accommodate your specifications. Although you may think this is a loaded question, discussing your budget with us will allow us to quickly point you towards website examples that fall within your budget. We build websites ranging from $1,000 – $15,000, with most small business general information websites of 10-15 pages finishing in the $1,500-$3,000 range.