There is nothing more that I adore in the web design and development process than a client who is ready to hit the ground running. To me I know they are ready for that next level and they’ve really thought about it.
Of course there will be changes along the way, strategy to sort out, but laying the foundation to your business goals is a key to online success.
Here are my top things that you should have already sorted before you contact your web designer.
Branding
Branding isn’t just about a pretty logo. It’s the voice of your brand. It represents your values, your beliefs and what your business puts out to the world. Having your branding sorted will have you steps ahead in the game, it will allow your web designer to build upon a solid foundation. A good brand will deliver your message to the world clearly.
Audience
Knowing your audience will flow on from your branding, having a clear idea of who you are talking to will not only need to be translated into design. Not only that it can also make a huge impact on what technology can be used. Modern mums will often have the latest and greatest, corporate or government users can often be years behind. People on the go may need less emphasis on Desktop versions.
Needs vs Wants
Everyone wants everything. But not when they see the price tag. I advise clients to get a big piece of paper and brain dump everything they want, then allocate it to a need or a want.
For example if you want to setup an online store and sell products. A need in this scenario is a shopping cart – you’ll need a shopping cart to sell the products. A want potentially could be the ability to add gift wrapping on orders or the ability to up sell other products.
Content
It’s far easier fitting a design around existing content than trying to squeeze your content into an existing design – unless of course you’ve hired a great copywriter to sort that out for you. Not only knowing how much content will help with the design process it will also help with site structure and often how things are going to work. If we see you have a boat load of content that cannot be culled we may have to approach certain pages with a considered approach.
Now the content doesn’t need to be final, it needs to be indicative of what the final content will be.
Photography
Good photographs will make or break your website. It doesn’t matter how awesome a design is, if the photographs used are pixelated, poorly formed dull or just lifeless, you may as well go blow your website budget on a holiday.
Do you need help with your next web design project? Contact me now!