Nigel Wilkinson
Managing Director of Daneswood. Nigel has been in sales and marketing since the 1980's and run digital marketing agencies since 2000.
“The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
Muhammad Ali’s famous quote about the importance of preparation applies as much to websites as to boxing, although thankfully with less physical exertion or pain.
Taking time to plan and prepare before you start creating a wonderful design will pay you back tenfold and more.
The first thing that you should think about when building your website is the strategy you will take, and that depends on what you want your website to achieve. Take a moment to think what you want your website to do for you. It may be one or more of the following:
- Generate Sales Leads
- Sell via eCommerce
- Generate Bookings
- Display your Catalogue On-line
- Direct people to your premises
- Community Interest
- Promote Events
- Provide Statutory Information
- Point of Contact
- Recruitment
- Other…
You may need to dig a little deeper, especially if you are selling online or have multiple objectives.
For example, will eCommerce need to integrate with your accounts package or stock control, or both?
Charities often want to reach people who benefit from their service, but also referrers, legacy funders, corporate donors, recruiting staff and volunteers, in addition to providing statutory information. Think through all the things you want your website to do and all the audiences you want to reach.
Once you have established what you want your website to do, then it’s much easier to create a website that achieves the goals. This might sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many websites fail because the organisation isn’t clear what the key objectives are.
People don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan!