Due to the speed at which the Internet evolves, it is necessary for websites to be regularly re designed. Technology and website users expectations can change monthly, so you can never view your website as being a finished product.
Your website is often your company or organization s first contact with prospective clients, and it is therefore vitally important that it makes a great first impression anything less and you will be missing out on custom, leads and sales. So, aim to review your website every 6 12 months to ensure that it is in keeping with the current standards expected of websites. The question is then, how do you know if your website is need of an update, or even an outright re design?
Writing a simple checklist is the best place to start. Write down everything that your current website should be doing. Then, ask some customers or friends to take your list and try out your website. Ask them which of the points on your list your website achieves. Tell them to be frank and honest with you, as you will gain nothing from the exercise is they want to avoid offending you. Tell them that it is not personal, but that you want to make your website and your business as good as you possibly can.
Once you know what your website can and is doing, the next step is to write a list of extra things that you want it to be able to do. Write such a list, and then write one sentence which states the primary purpose of your website, and one sentence which states the secondary purpose of your website. Ensure that everything on your list of desired features and capabilities supports either the primary or secondary purpose of your website. If they support neither purpose, then leave them out of your re design, as they will only stand to overcomplicate your website and confuse visitors to it.
Often making just a few changes or adding one or two capabilities to your website at a time is the best approach to take, rather than spending lots of time and money on a complete overhaul that takes 6 months to implement. The reason being that it is then easier to track the effectiveness of the changes made, and that existing users of your site will not be overwhelmed and confused when they next visit your website.
Coming up with a strict budget, and sticking to it, is something else to bear in mind. Once you have come up with a figure or a range, then seek bids from various web design companies do not just contact one and go with their first offer. You are in a buyers market, and when website design companies know that you are also talking with their competitors, you will often find that the prices that they quote suddenly become very competitive.
Do not make a decision based on price alone though. Ask to see examples of each companies past work, and also ask them to provide reviews and testimonials.
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