Planning and specifying your website
So you want a website for your business or group but don't know where to start? It all seems daunting ...doesn't it? But don't worry; getting your business on the web is easy.
You can contact the Birmingham (UK) based BigRedBall right now to discuss your website requirements and we can take it from there. But before you do, there are a number of things you can do and questions you can ask yourself to help prepare for your business website.
Register your domain name:
What do you want your website to be called? Every website needs a 'domain name' (the bit after the www) which is the address that your customers will use to access your site. For example, bigredball.co.uk is my domain name.
It helps if your domain name is easily remembered and spelt. A domain name might be kinda funky (such as bigredball.co.uk) or maybe more relevant to your small business but don't choose a domain name for your website that is neither of the two - otherwise, your customers wont remember you.
You can check the availability of your preferred domain name using one of many web based forms - try this one located at edshosting.co.uk.
Once you have a domain name, it needs to be registered with a registration agent. For example, BigRedBall is registered with NameRoute.co.uk.
Research your audience:
Who knows your business and audience better than you? Will a flashy, colourful website be required to attract customers to your small business or do you have a predefined ("captive") audience for whom your site acts as, say, a news portal? An example of the former might
be a wedding photographer whose prospective customers expect to see a certain artistic flair. An example of the latter might be a local sports club whose website needs to relay news and matchday information; i.e. for you, content versus style. Sometimes simple is beautiful as demonstrated by Googles world wide domination of the search engine market.
Your website design should be heavily influenced by your audience's requirements as well as your business.
Content is king:
Think about your content. The importance of your content cannot be exaggerated? Do you want to include company information, product information, services on offer etc. Although webdesign companies like BigRedBall can help refine your content, they often charge to do so. It is therefore in your best interest to put some thought into the content.
Basic layout:
Do you want a single page to present your business in a catalogue style, or will you have a number of sections that link between each other. There are pros and cons to each but, generally, a site will have a number of pages to cover different areas of your business, organisation or group. You should think about this as the number of pages will impact on the cost of the site.
Images and logos:
Do you want to include any images on your site? The answer to this is likely to be yes. But images of what? A picture of your small business building maybe, or do you want something more 'corporate friendly' or a logo? If so, think about what the images should represent as this helps the website designer understand your requirements. Do you need a logo to be created and, if so, do you have any specific ideas or do you want to leave it to the webdesigners imagination?
Advanced requirements:
Do you have any advanced requirements for your website? Webforms, message boards, flash animations, shopping carts, ecommerce, use of database technology all add quality to your site. Think about what you need in advance. The website designer needs to know whether you want or need these to enable the generation of an adequate quote.
Maintaining your site:
Will your site be static over time, such as a company brochure type site, or will you want it to be dynamic, e.g. updating a catalogue on a regular basis or distributing a newsletter? Websites that are more dynamic over time tend to get more repeat web traffic - afterall, why would a customer keep returning to your site if they believe the content will be the same as the last time they visited?
What about design:
Do you have any pre-conceived design ideas? Is there anything that has inspired you that you would like to see reflected in the design of your site? A flower or a building maybe. Maybe you want your website in the colours of your favourite football team, blues for a Birmingham City fan for example.
Your ideas and thoughts are vital input to the design of your website. Afterall, who knows your customers, trade and potential users better than you?
Affordable quality
BigRedBall prides itself on offering excellent value for money. The following prices are the basic prices but please contact us for a more accurate quote.
- Single page: from £60.
- 5 pages or less with one feedback form plus basic image production and manipulation: £295.
- 6 to 10 pages with one feedback for plus basic image production and manipulation: £500.
- Image production charged per hour. Example of daisy image above would be between £50 and £100. Example of the BigRedBall logo (see homepage) would be between £50 and £75.
- Advanced design and programming: Price on application.
- Updates to your site: Charged by the hour (£50 per hour) to keep your costs down.
Stand out from the crowd
The fact that you are reading these words is testament to your aim of standing out from the crowd; of being the business of choice for your customers. You want to attract more people to your organisation and want them to come back for more. You want to develop your small business and recognise that a website will help it flourish and grow.
Does the above describe you? If so, contact us and get the BigRedBall rolling on building your website!
