Planning Your Website
A website can be one of the most cost-efficient means of promotion or
advertising. Below I've provided an outline of things to keep in mind when
considering your website and the overall process.
This is also a guideline to a typical website building process with
CVF Enterprises.
Go To:
Planning |
Building
Making Your Presence Known |
Website Maintenance and Updating
There are several things that CVF Enterprises will discuss with you during
your initial consultation.
Things To Do:
Please be prepared with your information
prior to your consultation with CVF Enterprises.
Suggestions:
- Write notes while you brainstorm, including questions you may
have.
- Make an outline or detailed notes of your needs.
- Organize folders in which you add and keep information and materials
for your website:
- a physical folder with photos, brochures, company logo, written
materials.
- a directory folder on your computer with text for your website,
digitized photos, images, logos, and other pertinent
information.
- Look at as many websites as you can that are related to yours in
some way. Make note of the following:
- Websites that you like and why,
- Websites that you don't like and why not,
- Any websites that have elements that you like, such as colors,
navigation, overall layout, the type of content and how it's
presented.
This will not only help you see what your competition has going and
an overall perspective of websites in general, it will also help you
brainstorm for your own site.
- Purpose of website.
- Target audience.
- Website content:
- Text, and who will write or provide the text if not already
available.
Some very basic contents
might be:
who you
are,
what you do,
how to contact you,
list of services or products.
- Photographs or other images (to enhance or illustrate the
text).
- Logo.
- Updating of text and other content to keep site fresh and content
current.
- Ways to bring in new visitors, repeat visitors.
- Budget.
- Other costs:
- Internet Service Provider.
- Domain name and registration.
- Database information to make available online (know existing
database format, online password access only or available to public).
- If you wish to sell products or services online:
- Secure server for processing transactions.
- Merchant account through your bank (or alternatives such as PayPal).
- Online purchases by credit card, alternative purchases by fax,
postal mail.
- Shopping cart software, if needed (usually recommended for over
10 products or so).
- Set up system that integrates easily with new or existing
accounting software.
- If you haven't already done so, write or gather your content and
other materials as needed for your website.
- Contract Agreement and deposit.
- Test site will be available for review at each step of the creation
process, with regular communications throughout (usually by email, but
sometimes by phone).
- When site is completed, we get your final OK, final payment, and we
then upload your new site to the server (or send you the site by disc, if needed).
- Website Registration with several major search engines.
- Other means of bringing in visitors.
- Add website and email address to all correspondence, all
advertising.
- Consider sending announcements or commencing other advertising of
your new, redesigned, or improved website.
- Keep your website content fresh and alive.
- Encourage new visitors and have them return to your
site.
- Add new information as appropriate and update existing information
regularly.
- Check search engine rankings and tweak pages and/or meta tags if
needed.
- Continue to promote your website regularly.
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CVF ENTERPRISES