You’ve recently commissioned a web developer to assist with building your new website. At the face of it, your site is aesthetically pleasing. However, you are not attracting any website traffic or leads. Web development may not be your forte and, furthermore, you don’t necessarily understand the ins-and-outs of what happens behind the scenes, which makes meetings harder. If it makes you feel any better, you are probably just one of the many business owners who are dissatisfied with their websites.
How Do I Know It’s Time to Strategize?
If you can identify with at least one of the common complaints below, it’s time to strategize:
- Your website’s content is poor.
- Your website is not unique, which means your customers won’t be able to differentiate between your website and your competitor’s website.
- Your website is hard to navigate.
- Your website is slow to load on different devices and browsers.
- Your website is not secure, it is unstable and/or expensive to maintain.
How Do I Avoid Issues Down the Line?
To avoid issues down the line, we’ve listed three important key steps for your website development project:
- Set Clear Goals for Your Website
Make a list of the priorities for your website, and ensure that your web development team is on the same page as you to avoid any misunderstandings. You need to establish what you want to achieve and by when, providing everyone with strict outcomes and deadlines.
- Request a Work Proposal
Whether your website is being developed in-house or you’ve outsourced the project, you should ask for a written proposal before starting on the project. Take the time to read through the proposal carefully, making sure you understand all the content (it is important to ask questions if you don’t understand a certain point or section). The proposal needs to specify your project’s deadline, the scope of work, the roles and responsibilities as well as the approach and the detailed work plan.
Don’t forget to request and to review the web developer’s credentials, experience and reputation before making a final decision. The cheaper quote may not always the better option.
- Assign Someone to Manage Your Website Project
If you don’t have the time to completely focus on your project, consider engaging a project manager who will handle everything for you, especially if you lack the technical skills. He or she will oversee your project on a day-to-day basis, providing the necessary leadership and decision making required.
Post launching your website, have you given thought to who will be managing and maintaining your website on a regular basis? Assigning an internal project manager or an outsourced project manager would be recommended.
Careful planning, communication and attention to detail are critical to the success of your website. So, if you have any questions about web development projects, feel free to contact us for more information.