Initial web development questions

Remember that website developers may wish to use the websites they build as a way of demonstrating their own capabilities to new and potential clients, rather than focus on the needs of their current clients and users. It is therefore important to strike a balance between the two.

Perhaps the most important element for a business to get right is determining how it is going to measure the success of its web site. This will help to define how it is built and whom it is targeted at.

Questions you need to consider about your business capacity may ask include:

• Do you have time every day to do updates or will you need to train or purchase services?
• Will the site need updating every day or will it be monthly and who will do it?
• Who is going to check for email and how frequently?
• How much will the hosting and domain name cost?
• Will you need a database to run the software?
• Who will have the copyright on your site design?
• What graphics do you need and/or want and are they in the correct format?
• Do you have copyright for all the graphics/media/information or do I need to pay the design agency a fee?
• How will people navigate around they site?
• Do you need specialist software to run this site?
• What are the hidden personnel costs involved if any?
• How will you assess the value of the website to the business in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years?
• How will you ensure that the site pays for itself?
• What are you buying with the web site? Software? Brand awareness? Image? Extra customers?
• How does the website fit in with your current marketing strategy?
• Is there a different target audience for my products on the web than on the high street?
• How technically competent are your users likely to be?
• How will you ensure that the site provides a quality resource for users and potential customers?

1. Steve says:

   20 August, 2009 at 11:50 am

   I hear far too many business owners referring to the success of their websites simply in terms of site SEO without having looked at why they have one in the first place. If they can answer these questions I believe it will take them a long way down the road to an effective ‘e-strategy’. I wonder how many businesses with a web presence have such a strategy in place?