5 Things We Need To Know Before Designing Your Website

1
5 Things We Need To Know Before Designing Your
Website
2

• When potential clients contact us, one of the
  first questions asked is usually some variant of
  How much does a website cost? This is a good
  question, but before we can answer it, we need to
  ask a few questions of our own. Similar to
  buying a car or a home, it all depends on what
  sorts of features you are looking for. As we
  look to develop our proposal and pricing, here
  are five things well need to know before we can
  get started

3

• 1) Who is your target audience?
• Knowing and understanding your business or
  organizations target audience is the number one
  factor that separates successful websites from
  those that miss the mark. A clear understanding
  of how your audience learns and makes decisions
  will provide a framework which will impact every
  part of the website design process.

4

• 2) What action do you want your viewers to take?
• Once someone in your target audience has landed
  on your website, having a clear idea of what you
  want them to actually do is critical. Do you just
  want them to read and learn more information? We
  can do that lets make sure the navigation is
  crystal clear and the text very easy to read. Do
  you want them to make a donation to your
  non-profit? No problem lets make sure we have
  more than one prominent link to your donations
  page. Do you want them to make a purchase from
  your web store? Lets make sure to show some
  sample products prominently on the home page, and
  maybe offer a coupon code while were at it.

5

• 3) What does your website need to DO?
• Its a given that your website will communicate
  information, using photography, text, and maybe
  video. Thats easy. The big question as we
  enter into a new website project is to figure out
  what the website actually needs to do. Do you
  need contact forms? How many? Are you selling
  anything and do you need to collect payments on
  the website? Who is your payment provider? Do we
  need to interact with a database in any way? Do
  we need animations and movement? Do we need to
  integrate the website with your mailing list
  software?
• There are so many possibilities! Having a clear
  understanding of the function your website will
  need will allow us to provide an accurate
  estimate.

6

• 4) How many pages will the site have?
• Creating a site map is something that needs to be
  completed at the very beginning of any website
  development project. Weve seen site maps that
  are created as intricate Excel spreadsheets and
  site maps that are sketched on the back of a
  napkin. Theres no right or wrong way to do it,
  the important thing is to start thinking through
  the information you want your website to
  communicate and determining the best number of
  pages with which to do this. Of course, the
  number of pages will have an impact on the
  overall cost of the project (weve built 1 page
  websites and 100 page websites), but the bigger
  question to ask is what is the right number of
  pages to include to communicate everything we
  need to communicate to our target audiences?)

7

• 5) When is your deadline?
• If you have never been a part of a website
  development project, you may not have any context
  for how long the process takes. Is it two weeks,
  two months, or two years? Like most things, the
  answer to that question is It depends. There
  are many factors that can speed up or slow down a
  website development project. The complexity of
  the design and the number of pages are always a
  factor, but time for communication, review,
  creating draft designs, testing, and launching
  the site need to be included as well. One thing
  that can greatly speed up your project is to
  begin gathering all of your organizations
  digital collateral as soon as possible. This
  includes all logos, style guides, photography,
  fonts, old print pieces, stationery, and anything
  else that may be relevant and helpful for us to
  see as we get started on your new site design.

8

• New Frame Creative is a full service website
  design / development and digital marketing agency
  in Knoxville, TN. We specialize in stylish
  modern website design, search engine
  optimization, graphic design, video production,
  and more. If you are looking for "web design in
  Knoxville", TN or "SEO in Knoxville", visit us at
  http//www.newframecreative.com.