You can save significant time and money in setting up your website by doing work before you start your web design. Use the checklist below for a checklist of preliminary steps to take to organize in order to save money on web design.
Determine the must-haves for your website. Must-haves include your business logo, your business name, your business contact information and any other information, images or photographs that you want on your website.
Consider other pages you will need in addition to a landing page. If your product or business is going to use online order forms or catalogs, these will be additional pages that you’ll want to include in your web design.
Identify the key words you’ll choose for your website to help search engines find you. There is a lot of online help that is free for determining which keywords to choose.
Determine your main goal in website communication. Many businesses primarily use the Internet to accomplish the function that phone books used to accomplish which is to let people find their contact information in order to reach them if customers or potential customers are looking for a specific product or service. You can save significant money in both the design and web hosting of your website if you are using the Internet to communicate with the public in this way.
Determine the might-want-to-have features for your website by browsing through websites and web design and looking at options. Your research should include reading reviews of how well features typically work on websites.
Contact web design companies that offer free consultations to become familiar with typical criteria used for your type of business that you might have omitted. You can also use free consultations to determine whether you want to use a web design company.
Look at different web hosting companies to determine whether they provide web design support. More and more web hosting companies offer a suite of services for managing your online presence. These services are usually separately charged for but can be a great help in preventing mistakes in web design and getting your website up and running.
Consider whether you want to use a web design or website builder from a template. Though less elaborate than original designs, using a template can save a significant amount of time and money. Make sure the template you choose can accommodate the information you intend to include from your must haves list.
Organize your content even if you’ve decided to look for a web design company because web design is often charged on an hourly rate. Having your information ready will save you time and money. Compose content such as descriptions of your business or branding messages that you want to include on your website.
The more information you can organize regarding the look and content of your desired website, the faster and less expensive it will be for you to pursue web design for your business. Use the tips above to gather information before you undertake or hire someone else to undertake your web design.