What kind of website do you need
The key thing to settle before you start building a website is a clear statement of its purpose. So first, think through a few questions:
- What is the goal of your website – do you want to boost sales or provide as much information as possible?
- Should your website help strengthen your relationship with the customer?
- How many times should customers visit your website – once, or come back regularly?
Once you’ve defined your website’s purpose, you should get even more specific about its features. So the next important step is identifying your target audience. Think about:
- Who will use your website?
- Will the information on your site be available to everyone, or only to registered members? If you go with the second option, it’s worth considering who your site’s members will be.
- If the information will be open to all, consider whether any user will understand your website’s content.
- What devices will your website’s visitors use (smartphone, tablet and so on)?
Another important factor you shouldn’t forget is keeping the website up to date. Naturally, some information doesn’t need frequent updating and can stay unchanged for a while, but some things need constant refreshing. So to secure your business’s success and keep visitors interested, you need to respond very quickly. Bear this in mind if you want to stay in demand among your site’s visitors and customers.
Once you’ve defined your website’s purpose, you can choose one of two site types – HTML sites with static management, or sites with a content management system (dynamic management):
- A static HTML site works best when the page content won’t need changing for a long time. If you know how to use HTML, you can update this kind of site yourself once or twice a year. If you need help, specialists can advise you for an additional fee.
- The second type of site works best when you plan to update the website’s information regularly, or when you want to manage and update the site yourself. Setting up a content management system and building the site costs more. On the other hand, you won’t need to pay for content updates and site maintenance if you’re able and have the time to administer the site yourself.
