Your Website – An Owner’s Guide
What do I need to know about my website?
ONE strong, clear message:
Every color, design element, text and other content
should work in harmony to convey that message.
directed at a specific audience
Who do you want to work with?
Who is going to be interested in your product or service?
Cohesive overall
your website purpose &
that of your business are the same.
If your purposes are many,
there should be one that predominates,
and that should come across FIRST on the home page.
This is why you see so many sites where the home page is a cluttered mess,
giving you no idea who they are, primarily, and not giving you the direction you need to ‘navigate’ the site.
(see why it’s called navigation?)
So, Remember to FOCUS!
THEN,
It’s on to the other decisions -
Everything starts with the definition.
Cohesive overall
Speak in one voice
When you meet with client, customers, friends, be the same person regaring your business.
Likewise, your business card, letterhead, brochures, website, skywriting – should carry the same identity.
Be yourself! For a lot of us, it’s not as easy as it sounds. We think we need to put on a different hat, but often hats just obscure the face, and when you want to establish trust, ,.. well you get the picture.
The Elements
How much do you need to understand about the pieces?
(all the things that go in to the making of your site – part 2)
What you NEED to know is more or less, what you want to know.
If you have a lot of images, you may want to know about slideshow possibilities, image optimization, resolution,..
Many categories – how to organize them in a sensible, appealing way.
Forms, databases, e-commerce, search function,.. what do you need here, and what is the best way to do it?
Establish a good rapport with your web designer (one of the major reasons you chose that company) and she’ll lead you through YOUR process.
(the general process)
As every business is unique and has it’s own products/servies/people/personalities/dynamics,… each web site will need to reflect those differences, and what you need to understand can depend on the website and what it’s role is in your endeavor.
Tags: audience, definition, design element, focus, harmony, home page, navigation, website, website purpose
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