posted by ADMIN // July 09, 2009 // Build Your Website

It is commonly understood that a website is an important tool that no company should be without. It gives a company an online presence, and extends normal company business activity into a whole new world. As with most companies, you will have spent a lot of time deciding on a market strategy, brand identity and other important features of your company image, but do these decisions feature on your website?

Whether you hire a designer or do it yourself, you need to consider the following issues when building or redesigning your website.

What is the purpose of your website?

It could be to sell products online, or it could be simply to promote your company image. The issue is whether your website is a ‘vegetable’ or ‘flower’ website, that is, one of substance or appearance. If you want a website of substance, be wary of employing a web designer whose only consideration is appearance.

Does your website have real content?

Search engines index text, not images or Flash movies. If you want your website to be featured in search engine results, you need to have around 400 words of text on each page. The text should include keywords, and add to the body of information currently available. If it just copies what’s there already, visitors will quickly stop visiting.

Is your website navigable?

The navigation option that is friendliest to search engines is plain text hyperlinks. Buttons can also be followed by search engine software, but JavaScript drop-down menus cannot. JavaScript menus may not work where the visitor has disabled JavaScript in his browser. If you want your visitor to be able to navigate your site consistently, don’t use JavaScript menus.

Does your website have any means of making money?

It may seem like an obvious consideration, but there are a lot of websites out there that don’t sell anything and don’t advertise anything. They simply exist as a space-occupying company sign. Your website should be an addition to your company resources, not a drain on them. It must enable you to do business online, and to extend your market reach. Virtual store space on the Internet is much cheaper to run than bricks and mortar, and the store can be open 24/7.

Your website does not have to look frumpy and plain, just because it is a working site that makes you money. If it has substance and generates income online, in addition to oozing style and quality, you have the best of both worlds. Make sure your website designer understands your goals, and you will both benefit from the financial income, and the kudos of being associated with the coolest website in your market.

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