Website Planning

Ever wonder what it's like to work with a web designer? Ever wanted to take a peek behind the curtain to see how things get done? Need some help with your website, but not sure about taking that next step to hire a designer?

Working with a web designer can be a huge benefit to your business - whether you are an entrepreneur, "solo-preneur" small business, or a blogger. It can also be a lot of fun when you're working with the right designer.

Getting a clear picture for what you want to do with your website will help you avoid a lot of headaches. There is a lot to learn once you're up and running and, if you're like me, you've had those moments when you're left scratching your head thinking, why isn't this doing what I wanted to do?

Website strategy, just like any other strategy should be intentional and focused on achieving goals. But if you're new to your particular business or new on the web in general you really need to do some planning for your website to make sure it's going to achieve the objectives you want it to achieve.

But do you even know what those are? Sure, everyone knows in the 21st century that you need to have a website, but do you know what having a website is going to help you accomplish?

You have probably thought through your business and generally what you expect to happen with your business. You've likely been through at least some level of strategic thinking on the subject by creating a business plan or even a basic game plan.

For your website to be successful you will want to go through those same kinds of strategic thinking that you did for your business. Always do your due diligence on the issue, but at the same time don't let yourself get bogged down in the details. Here are three steps to determining what you want your website to achieve.

So you need to get your website up, but you're budget for it is really small, and the thought of having someone else do it for you sounds too expensive.  Sometimes, that really isn't the case, but I understand budgetary issues - trust me, I do.

Times are hard and everyone is scrambling these days just to try to make sure the light bill is paid.

So, you’ve gone through the effort of building an online storefront, and you’ve now proudly got your products displayed and you’re just waiting for the stampede to begin. But for some reason, things just aren’t happening this way - what’s the deal? I think, as you may have figured out, there is a lot more to marketing your site than just putting it up and hoping people will find you and buy stuff. It takes more than a e-commerce website and products to make for a successful online store. Here are a few things that you need to do to make sure you have the basics covered.

It’s a frequent issue that comes up whenever I’m talking with someone about their website. There is so much to think about when getting your website going that it’s hard to keep up. It’s easy - really easy - to get swamped in the weeds of the fine-grain details and overlook elements that are essential to your site being successful. So if you’re not sure what’s missing from your site take note of the essentials below and make sure you’ve got them implemented. It’s your virtual reputation. Make sure you have the basics covered.