Start Up Web Solutions

First Things First

Define your site goals

Write down the main benefits you want your site to add to your current activities. Reaching more of your target audience? Getting enquiries from people in need of your services? Increasing donations and other funding? Presenting your work in an appropriately stylish manner? Selling products or services online?

Define your main audience

Will your main audience be new/existing clients for your services? Potential donors to support your activities? Any particular age groups or gender? People in a certain locality? People looking for specific information about your organisation? People searching for terms relevant to the services you offer?

Think of a name for your site

What name do you want to appear at the top of each page the name of your organisation or company? Your own name? Your name + a description - e.g. ‘Joan Smith Photography’? A new, unique name for your web site - e.g. Twitter, Yahoo, eBay?

Make a short description of your site

The kind of description that might appear under your site name - what you/your organisation. your site is about. Your mission? The service you offer? Who yuou are targetting? The main benefit you/your site provides? Keep it short - just one sentence of 1 to 6 words. Try to include 1 or more keywords you think people might search for.

Set some Scope

Set a budget

Bear in mind fixed costs involved in setting up a web site such as registering a domain name, arranging hosting, cost of any database or other software, then calculate how much you can allow for the web design, plus any other costs you can think of. Be realistic rather than restrictive.

Set a Timeframe

Do you need your site live on a certain date? Make sure you allow between 1 and 2 months as a minimum timeframe before going live. If your site is going to be large or complex, allow longer.

Think of the Sections of your site

Write down the main sections of your site as you see them - think of the sections that appear in the main navigation - e.g. Home page, About page, Services page, Contact page. Also write down any subsections which might belong within each main section. Doing this, you are creating a basic ‘sitemap’ which will prove very helpful during the design process.

Think about Content

What written content do you have ready?

Think first about text/words content - do you have any brochures, press releases, articles etc. that might be used on your site? You will need your full contact details, plus opening/working hours, contact details of any departments etc.

What other content do you have available?

Make a list of all the photos, diagrams, logo artwork, videos etc. you can access which might be used on your site

What extra content will your site need?

Once you know what content you have ready, think of what content is missing - information, photos, maps etc. which you think should be part of your new site

What content may you have to prepare?

Once you have a list of necessary but missing content, determine how much of this you will need to prepare yourself and provide your web designers, and how much they may be able to obtain from elsewhere - e.g. on the web. If you think you might want some relevant or decorative images from a photo stock library, remember to add the small cost this might involve into your budget.

Think Look and Feel

Think about colours

Are there already one or more colours associated with your organisation (e.g. in brochures, stationary etc) which should be used on your site? Or is there a particular colour you want used? Any colours you think should not be used? How about the background colour of your site? White, a pale colour, dark, black, or perhaps an image?

How about the impression you want to communicate?

How do you want your site to represent you/your organisation? Established, reliable, cutting-edge, caring, creative, green, urban, whatever. Do you have a logo, or do you want one?

Research and list your favourite existing sites

This can be very helpful at the design development stage. List sites of any type you especially like, for how they look, work or both. Make a list of these sites’ web addresses (e.g. www.myfavesite.com) + any notes on their best features etc., so you can send this to the designers later.

List sites in your field you like/don't like

There may be one or more sites in your work sector you think achieves what you have in mind, to a greater or lesser extent. Or sites in the same sector you positively dislike. Make a list of their web addresses e.g. www.myfavesite.com) + any notes on what aspects you like/don’t like, and why.

List any extra Functionalities

What are Extra Functionalities?

These are web-specific, interactive things like forms, blogs, forums, social networks linkup, downloads. Or, on a larger scale, ecommerce or content management systems. Remember that adding such features will increase the size and cost of your project. On the other hand, such user interractions are fundamental to the engaging nature of many successful sites.

Do you want to manage/update your site yourself?

Do you need to? Having direct control over your site requires a database and a content management system, plus a short learning curve in using them? Such a site will cost significantly more than a mostly unchanging site, even one professionally updated from time to time. On the other hand, content management is a crucial requirement for many sites, and critical to their success.

Are you planning to sell online?

Having a site ecommerce-enabled (i.e. with a shopping cart system)requires the additional security requirements of selling on-line, the added complexity of a shopping cart and order-tracking system, plus content management to allow updating and deletion of products, order fulfillment etc. This makes ecommerce among the most expensive of web solutions to implement. It also requires the site owner to set up merchant accounts whether for PayPal or full payment gateways. The development of a successful and secure ecommerce site is challenging and work-intensive, for designers and site owners alike. If ecommerce is central to your site project, very careful pre-planning and cooperation between all involved is vital.

Think about other functionalities your site may need

Virtually all interactive functionalities like a blog, forum, complex forms, even site search, will usually require a database as their foundation, and will add to the design costs to various degrees. However, apart from the most straightforward ‘static’brochure-type sites, nearly all sites need some interactive elements. A contact/enquiries form is included as standard in all our design packages.

Practical Considerations

Do you own a domain name?

You will need a domain name (e.g. yourorganisation.co.uk) to provide a web address for your site (e.g. www.yourorganisation.co.uk) and also for any email addresses associated with it (e.g. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) - if you don't already own a domain name, you need to think of one, find out if it is available, and register your best choice. We can research the best domain names that are appropriate and available for your project, advise on the best choices for search engines, branding and usability, and take care of all registration for you, or you can do all this yourself.

Have you got web hosting?

If you aldready own a domain name, you might have arranged a web hosting package to go with it - such hosting package will need to provide all the features needed to support your site design, otherwise it may need upgrading. If you do not have web hosting set up, this can be provided on our Linux and Windows web servers. All our first-time web design clients get free web hosting for the first year, and at very low-cost thereafter. All you will need is to get a domain name registered and we will take care of the rest.