GreatProductsReviewed.com

Introduction

When I decided I needed a website for my business I had no idea of the planning involved. Like most people, I thought web design meant deciding on the graphics and the look of the pages and then by some magic it would all happen.

I have a friend who is in the business of SEO web design and web content management systems so I approached him for a quote. As a complete novice who is computer literate up to a point, I was amazed at the depth of initial questioning required to find out exactly what I wanted to achieve.I realise now it is akin to building a house or other huge project where it is all in the preparation.

I had no idea about the various elements and the structure of the site and I found it mind blowing when I learnt about the amount of work involved. So I thought other people would be interested to know more about this complicated process particularly if you consider yourself a non computer person and have to get a website built. I have asked my SEO friend to supply the technical information for this article.

Stages in the Process

Target Audience

Before building a website there are important questions to consider. I was asked who would be my target audience. Who are my customers likely to be? Would they be children, businesses, home owners, sales people, parents or teenagers and so on?

The Objective of the Website

Then I was asked, what was the objective of my website? Did I want to sell services on line or use it to market my business and get more leads for potential customers? Maybe I would want to use the site as an online brochure to showcase my services. Another possibility was to use the website to foster a community so that I was in contact with other like-minded people, with chat rooms, online discussions and being supported by advertising on the site.

I hadn’t quite realised the scope of a website but as I was asked these questions it became clear that a lot of careful planning went into the preparation before building a website. I realised it is like any project, the majority of the work is in the preparation, a bit like decorating really!

Creating a Site Map

The importance of creating a site map is to get it clear in your mind of all the pages you will have on your website so you can prepare the content for each page and begin to design the flow through the website, such as when a user adds a product to their basket, then enters their delivery and billing address and makes the credit card payment in the correct order.

You wouldn’t build a house without having the technical drawings done and in web development the sitemap is as important. Without it the project will not be optimal, such things as your copy writing and SEO will all end up being half cocked, unless you plan them methodically first.

The aim is to make the site as user friendly as possible so that there are no barriers to getting into the website or making a purchase. For that reason often user name and passwords are set for the customer so that they are not put off making a purchase by having to register. How many times have you gone to buy something online and then been faced with having to choose a user name and password to create an account, and fill out all of your address details and decided not to bother in the end? Well they just lost a sale!

For a non e-commerce site things are simpler with a contact form which allows you to receive enquiries by email without publishing your email address on the website, thus avoiding spam.Web forms can also validate the information before you receive it, so ensuring that the phone number provided does not contain words, and that the email address is in the correct format, for example. These things may sound very technical to us lay-folk but I assure you everything has to be decided on before starting on the construction of the site. This avoids delays later, and it is best if your developers can complete the work in a single sitting, rather than having to keep putting it down and revisiting it.

Your Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is often quite a problem because every name you initially come up with will almost certainly have been taken. Domain names ending in .com are by far the most popular and internationally recognised; the snag is that it’s very popularity means that the majority of the shorter names have probably already been registered. However, you can usually think of some domain name that is available, which is much less time consuming than trying to purchase a previously registered domain name from its existing owner, most of the time just contacting them, and getting a reply is a challenge.

So looking at names with endings such as .net; .org .co.uk or .info may be able to provide you with the domain name you want. When choosing your domain name it is very important to include one or more of your keywords if possible as this can apparently help with search engine rankings. So although the name of your business is the obvious choice for a domain name, it is not necessarily the only option.

Copy

The next stage is preparing the copy. This is not the design of your website – just the words and visuals you want to have one each of the pages. A good idea before writing the copy is to have created your site map and decided on your SEO keywords, see below sections.

Having gathered all the previous information you will need to decide what imagery you want to use within the website content. As we all know, a picture speaks a thousand words and remains in people’s memory far longer than just words. It is a popular concept that people don’t read, and is even more true on the web today, so use as many images, diagrams, cartoons and illustrations as possible.

For each image you should also have a caption, as the caption of an image is the next ‘most read’ words on the page after the page title. Images and their captions need to be clickable. When you click on a picture it should take you to the next stage of the process such as the sale page or placing an enquiry if your website is for lead generation. All images should also have alternative text or alt tags. Alt tags will display the hover text when you position your mouse over the picture, but also they are used by screen readers to assist visually impaired users know what the image is about. See the section below on Accessibility and Compliance.

Website Design

Finally we come to the design of your website.

When we do website design we often prefer the client to work with an external design agency to get the site designs created, leaving us to focus on the more black and white site of installing the artworks on the new website and setting up the CMS.

There are a number of ways to approach website design but ultimately you need to create a design brief for the designer(s) to work from. Look at other websites and your competitor’s websites to find out what you like or dislike. The design brief should give reference to the logo, any existing brand guidelines or schemes and fonts and colour schemes, and should also detail which pages of the website that the designer is being tasked with creating visuals for.

The very best results will be achieved by using a graphic designer, and beware – not all graphic designers are the same. A graphic designer who designs specifically for print is working in a different discipline than a graphic designer who designs for screen and specifically the web. So choose your designer carefully, look at other work that person has done and determine whether or not you like their style.

If you are working in the big time and budget allows, use multiple graphic designers who have all been given the same design brief and request three concept designs from each designer. If the client themselves also do a graphic design, even if it’s a back of the envelope scribble, you will then have 10 concept designs. The next step is to get them all together and select the preferred elements from each design. Then give the work to the preferred graphic designer to work up as the final artwork. Once you have reviewed the final visuals the artwork files will then be provided to the developer, usually in layered Photoshop files.

The artwork should be finalised and agreed on by everybody before development of the site begins.

Navigation

Another important consideration when building a website is how you want your navigation to work. You can have links within the content of your website, in the text, so there are not just links from the menu. You will need to decide whether the links will open into a new window, retaining your original page open or just change the page to the one clicked on. Next time you go online, you will realise how much thought has gone into the way in which a website works. You will may also have some ideas for improving how some of them work after reading all of this!

Production

Finally the preparation has been done and the site is ready to be constructed. Now for the more technical stuff! You will need to have decided which programming language to use to build the website. There are two main types for developing a website, one is Unix based, and the other is Windows based. Each one has advantages and disadvantages. If you are starting from scratch then it probably won’t matter, so you can go with the preference of your professional doing the work. My website is built on the Unix platform (apparently!) which is the same as many of the more well known websites such as Ebay, Facebook, Google and Amazon. Also your website hosting must be compatible with the development language with which your website is built in.

Work In Progress

The best way to build a website and be able to monitor work in progress is on the web server where the site is ultimately going to live. This way, those involved in reviewing the work can see work in progress and provide feedback throughout the development.

Publishing Your New Website

The moment of excitement comes when your site finally goes live and you see the results of all the thought that has gone into the whole process.

I was over the moon to see my reinstall Windows website go live.

As soon as the site has gone live there is no substitute for real world testing though, so ask as many of your friends and colleagues to view the website from their own offices and give you their thoughts.

Accessibility and Compliance

The website has to meet the current standards for website coding and doing so insures that disabled users, such as the visually impaired, can still access the entire website if they are using a Braille web browser. It is also a good idea to also discuss conformance moving forward, particularly if you have a web content management system, because and accessible of compliant site may become un-accessible after six months of being edited by you if you do not add or edit the website content in an accessible manner.

Unforeseen Items

There are always things that arise in any project which you suddenly realise you have forgotten, so no matter how well the website designer prepares and asks the right questions, there is bound to be a last minute change of mind or addition to the site. The main aim is to minimise the number of glitches that might arise because they aren’t calculated in at the start and they could cause extra costs and delays on the date of the website going live.

Reporting and Monitoring

Once your website is up and running, you might like to know how many people visit your website and from that number how many actually buy the products or place an enquiry. From these statistics you can work out the ratio of visits to sales and gradually make changes to improve the ratios. There are some reliable statistics packages such as Google Analytics or Web-Stat.com which allow you to collect and review website visitor data in near real time. All you need to do this is to have a small block of code inserted into each web page on your site.

Another useful service that Web-stat.com provides is to monitor the website and warn you by email or text message if the site is not reachable.

Marketing

Once the website is live there are lots of things you can do to market your product or service. The first step is to submit it to the search engines and at the same time write articles, and press releases. Getting links to the site from forums, blogs and other social networking spaces are other options. For more on this subject ask your designer about SEO, remember that’s search engine optimisation.

How to be Found on the Web

One of the first questions I was asked was, ‘Do you want it to be found by Google the main search engine?’ If I did then there was a whole process of establishing Keywords. So finding the best keywords are vital if you want to be found in Google. He says there are two main types of keywords. The first is the trophy, or generic, keyword for the industry which in my industry is simply ‘demolition’. The second kind of keyword is the long tail keyword. These are not searched for as frequently but if you can get a match then they are much more likely to convert into customers. A good example of this in my industry is ‘factory demolition company Derby’. So it is very important to do a lot of research on keywords to find both those that are the most popular and the most specific. Generally most users only look at the first page of results so you will want to get your website promoted so as to get on this page for your chosen keywords. By using a keyword research tool such as the keyword lookup in the Google Web Master Tools kit you can find the single most popular keyword for your industry.

Conclusion

Wheww. What an amazing amount of work! I hadn’t realised when I started the process of getting a website up and running, how complicated it all is and how many factors you have to consider before even designing the website. The word web design is really a misnomer, as people often think it’s just about the graphic design on the home page, and the branding of the product. Unless you are a computer whizz, most people have no idea how much goes into designing and building a website and the systems that support the work you want it to do. I hope that this article gives you an understanding and insight into the whole process of website development from start to finish.

Tags: target audience, web content management systems

nfl jerseys Net advertising and marketing is one thing that you should learn when selling any sort of product or service in the online arena. It truly is the process of reaching out to your prospects and making product awareness with the goal to create sales and income. One thing that you need to know is the fact that internet advertising and marketing is 1 approach that you can find out and master overtime. Along with your willingness to discover and with small patience, you will get there in no time. Here’s a basic guide for you:

Analysis and do your homework. It is always great to start by performing study. Read articles, newsletters, and weblog posts (don’t be concerned as you can find hundreds offered in the on the internet arena) that had been written and published by expert net marketers. List down items that you believe could be helpful along the way and the concerns that you have in mind.

Join other internet marketers on forums and blogs. The excellent thing about the internet is that it is possible to very easily make that much-needed connection with those who are going through exactly the same points or people who share your goal and passion. Find forums which are created for world wide web marketers and check out them on a standard basis. Post your concerns and you will surely get answers in no time. Also, read the posts of other members with the forums to understand from their expertise and from their mistakes.

Analysis your target audience. You can find a lot of tools which you can use to promote your goods online but not all of them will help you reach out to your target audience. To know which one will provide you with the kind of final results that you are looking for, know the men and women that you’re serving 1st. Analyze their on the internet behavior to obtain an thought. Know the certain time they go on the internet and also the amount of hours they devote surfing the net. Then, identify the websites that they usually visit and the kind of information that they are trying to find. By gathering these info, you will very easily determine the top approach to reach out to them without wasting your time and energy.

Get an concept about your competitors. One with the points that you need to do is always to ensure that your prospects (at the very least some of them) won’t go to your competitors just simply because you have to get your fair share of customers. Make sure that you have an edge more than these individuals. You should be able to provide something that other people simply won’t. The key here is giving your prospects an assurance that it is far better to do enterprise with you compare to those folks that you are going up against.

cheap jerseys Generate an wonderful site. You should give your finest shot when generating your site. The reason for this is basic; it’s your first point of get in touch with with your prospects. As very first impression actually matters in the organization world, make your web site incredibly appealing and downright unforgettable. It should assist you to send a strong message to your prospects that you’re somebody they are able to trust. cheap nfl jerseys

http://www.chennaimizo.com/

Tags: nfl jerseys, target audience

For your new product, let us assume that you have developed product positioning that is compelling, accurate and relevant. You’ve taken a close look at the competition and examined your item’s position in the industry, as well as the online world, understanding what makes your product different, or even much better. Additionally, it’s likely you have analyzed your pricing so it will not likely have an impact on any channel issues as well as your profit and margin goals. And saving the best for last, the behavior of your potential customers needs to be understood by you.

You have a many things to complete if you think you are up and about to launch your product nonetheless, you haven’t accomplished these things. Because lots of firms doesn’t do what is required before launching a product, many crash greatly. The mistakes would be either the companies usually do not launch to the suitable direct mail piece, message, price tag as well as the target audience. It is crucial to own a solid direct mail campaign and plan your product launch well if you haven’t done your homework since you will only get one launch opportunity. To ensure success, have a look at these five steps:

Don’t forget the 5 Ps (product, packaging, place, price, promotion)

1. Product: Name, positioning, and messaging are part of product brand strategy you need to decide. The distinguishing capabilities need to be aimed at! Product messaging is vital to a prosperous launch. Do not hurry through it. You need to handle your service just like a product for service providers. Allow it to be tangible. And try naming it!

2. Packaging: Regardless of whether you sell a product or a service, the packaging is important! What your packaging can do, you will need to consider. Some packaging has the function of continuing to “sell from the shelf,” while other packaging efforts are meant to continue to confirm the value of the purchase after the transaction has been made. In either case, it can’t be stressed enough exactly how necessary product packaging is to a new product launch.

3. Place: New distribution and channels choices needs to be searched into. In order to have something fresh to talk about is a great time to do that. On the other hand, your existing customer base must be lauched FIRST, you should not forget about this. That’s your most receptive audience!

4. Price: You’ve reached your pricing strategy ahead of time, however perhaps you have considered your introductory pricing. Take into account having a price to lure some early adopters to try your new product. This will get you several news out of the gate. Make sure though that your clients understand the offer they’re having (add the discount to the receipt/invoice and name it “introductory price”).

5. Promotion: First of all you should do is find out 1) the most appropriate launch vehicles to make use of (advertising, direct mail, email, events, PR, telemarketing, other online options), and 2) one of the most gripping offer for your prospect pool at each stage in the buying cycle (a newsletter, white paper, webinar, discount, add-on, test version, demo, etc.). Bear in mind, your marketing campaigns should have variety, frequency, AND regularity.

2nd step will be the visibility to all the up front work necessary from your company, staff and even from an agency outside the firm ought to be shown by your promotional schedule that you ought to build. This demonstrates the activity levels you could expect throughout every week of your promotion and validate you’ll always have a marketing activity occurring throughout the launch period. It is a fact make sure that will see whether what you have planned is realistic to complete, provided your resources, personnel and funds

Always include the price and fees with every program in your plan so that you can itemize your funds. These facts will equip you to evaluate budgetary discussions much better but this can additionally enable you to control your funds much more carefully.

Examine your return on investment (ROI) by documenting the reach, frequency, and estimated reply rate for every direct mail piece that you have identified to get to a potential ROI. Because response rates can differ significantly and they additionally depend on numerous factors such as your offer, your list and its level of quality or just how targeted it is, the creativity of your message, its design and style, and the timing of the campaign, you should possibly provide a conservative in addition to aggressive forecasts.

Once you have accomplished your launch plan, complete with product positioning, proposed programs, Return on investment forecasts on the direct mail piece, schedule, and budget-it is time to present your tactic to your employer, and group. Just before doing your plan also to ensure a prosperous launch too, obtain buy-off from all levels of your business.

Then last be ready to fine-tune your direct mail ad when the numbers for your Return on investment are inadequate enough. With practice, along with by way of tests, you are able to guarantee a good Return on investment for other campaigns that support your product launch down the road. In reality, a fantastic campaign along with other direct marketing campaigns that follows generally pays for itself.

Tags: mail piece, target audience