So you want to build a website, but you’re not sure where to start? You might be a start-up business or maybe you haven’t built a website before and it all seems a bit daunting. As Nelson-based website designers, we have talked to many people from various backgrounds who want to build a website but who aren’t sure where to start.

To help you get started, we have developed the following questions which will enable you to discuss a new website in a meaningful way with a web designer. This is not an exhaustive list of questions, but it’s designed to get you started.

How much does a website cost?

The first question you most probably want to ask is, ‘how much does a website cost?’ As a web developer, it’s difficult to answer that question without knowing the scope of the website you want. Websites come in all shapes and sizes, from one-pagers to huge sites with many pages and special features. Before you ask, ‘how much does it cost?’, start by asking yourself the following questions, then your web developer will be able to give you a more accurate estimate.

1. What do I want my website to achieve?

‘What does success look like?’ This is the most important question to ask yourself, as it makes you focus on the results you want. Whether you want to increase brand awareness, educate your audience, attract visitors and make sales, appear on the first page of Google, build an online community, or encourage onsite and social media interaction, your website will have a purpose that will determine its content and features. The more focused and clearly stated your goals are, the more effective your website will be.

2. Who is my website going to help (your target audience)?

For your website to resonate with your customer, it needs to be designed for them to enjoy and appreciate. Ask the following: who are these customers, how old are they, what are their interests, their geographic location? What are their likes and dislikes? What will appeal to them the most?
Perhaps your audience is also strong on social media, so including external links to your social media profiles on your website is important and can also increase traffic across different channels. If you are selling a product (or selling your brand) to potential customers, are there key questions you can answer through your website, which will incentivise them to buy? Can you write a description of your ideal customer?

3. Who are my competitors?

An important exercise can be to analyse your competitors. Who are they and what they are doing? This is a great way to see what works and what doesn’t work well within your brand’s industry. Remember, you don’t want to simply match your competition, you want to surpass them.

4. What features do I want to include?

Think about what the must-have features for your website are and whether your web hosting provider will be able to accommodate this. Do you want to update the site easily yourself? Will the site need to gather contact details from visitors? Will the site need to provide eCommerce shopping? What other forms will need to be filled out?

5. How much content do I want on my website and how will I generate it?

To work out how much content you need, it can be helpful to think of your website as a book. Will it be a 5-page book or a 50-page book? This might give you a perspective on what is required to develop the written side of your website. Then think about how many images you might need to have on each page. A 5-page book may only need a handful of images, but a 50 pager will require a lot more. You may also want to have a video on the site as this is very popular and adds to the visitor experience. Will you want to include an infographic and animation too? These features will add time and cost to the project but can increase its effectiveness.

6. Do I have existing branding?

Your website is an opportunity to stand out and differentiate yourself from your competition. Branding plays a vital part in standing out and being remembered. If you have existing branding that includes a logo, colours, fonts and key messages, this will make the website design phase more efficient. If you haven’t done this part of your marketing, Downing can help you create these important marketing tools.

7. How will people find my website?

It’s no use having a brand new, beautifully designed website if no one can find it. It’s important to establish an online strategy and to make sure that your site is easy to find for search engines, like Google. Ideally, most of your traffic will come from your website showing up in search results as opposed to customers searching for you directly. It’s good to know what your expectations are in this area before your website goes live.

8. How am I going to get people to come back to my website?

This involves thinking about what unique features and interesting design aspects your website will have that will set it apart from other sites. Perhaps your website is super easy to navigate or aesthetically pleasing, or maybe it presents its content in a really compelling and innovative way. Whatever the reason, make sure your website is engaging enough that it will motivate your audience to return.

9. How do I measure my website’s success?

Set goals and objectives in advance so that after you’ve launched the website, you’ll be able to measure your success. Your goals could be related to search engine results, traffic to your website, online sales, viewers’ time spent on your site and more. However you decide to measure the effectiveness of your website, make sure the results make sense to you and provide insight into how your site has performed.

10. Am I committed to the long haul?

You’ve finally finished building your website, so now you can sit back and watch your creation represent your brand and engage your customers… right? Wrong! Good websites are always changing and evolving based on user feedback, optimisation and new technology and features that become available. Designing and building a website should always be an ongoing process – this is what will help make your site great. 

The answers to these questions will inform you on how you should build your website, what features it will include, how it will run and navigate, and how it will effectively market your brand and engage your audience.

WEB SITE KICK STARTER TOOL

To make it really easy for you we have made a Free Tool that you can use to create a document that you can use to brief a Web Developer.

Answer all questions below and then hit Submit and you will receive all the info in an email. Hey presto, you will be able to talk like a Marketing pro with your web developer.

DOWNING | Creative Marketing is a New Zealand-based creative agency and has helped many organisations in Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough develop their websites and their brands. We love to build websites that meet our clients’ expectations and deliver results that help grow their business. If you would like to talk some more about your website project, please fill out the form above and we will get in touch.

Now is the time to for eCommerce success

Recently we have had a flurry of businesses trying to convert their static websites into online stores. We are seeing a fresh wave of clients seeking the success that e-commerce can deliver. Business leaders and entrepreneurs realise the world has changed, and that selling products and services online is essential if they are to thrive in business. One thing is for certain, many successful entrepreneurs and business owners have seen exponential growth after learning the power of having an online store.

What about businesses that have been slow to jump into a digital store or online business model? Up until now, they may have been resisting stepping into online shopping, for a number of reasons. For some, it’s just another thing to manage, for others it’s the upfront cost, and others it’s lack of knowledge or the hassle of learning a new digital skill. Some just don’t have a website yet. It seems like a mountain that is too big to climb. It could be a lot simpler than you think to have an online store.

Case Study

Guytons’ Fisheries have had a simple profile website to support their bricks and mortar’ stores in Richmond, Nelson, and Blenheim. When the COVID-19 lockdown forced all retail stores to close in March 2020, they realised that they had to act quickly to set up an online store.

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After one phone call to Downing we promised to get their online store up and running within a week. 7 days later they were open for business online and delivering delicious fresh fish to the Top of The South Island. The point here is that setting up an online shop may be easier than you think. This article outlines the steps that we can take to get your store up and running, let us know if you have any questions.

7 things you need before you build an online shop if you are starting from scratch.

Even if your online business is just an idea these steps will help with your business plan. Here are some of the keys steps you need to put in place before you start setting up your online business and selling your products or services online:

1. Do some simple customer research – Ask your existing customers if they are likely to buy from you online and if they do, what would they be looking for. Google Trends shows useful information about what people are looking for online. If customers are not searching for your services online, or they aren’t interested in buying online, then you may need to rethink your online strategy. You may need to change your product offering or target different customers. You may even need to reconsider your business model as you seek to integrate your online store.  Think about the impact that selling online may have on existing supplier relationships, distribution, packaging, freight, and aftersales service. Either way, some initial research to define your ideal customer is very valuable. If customers want to buy online ask what words they will type into the search engine to find your products. These words should be included in your product descriptions and headings in your website, making it easier to find your online business.

2. Create a product list – Use a spreadsheet to record all the information for the products you want to sell. Some typical things to include are the product name, product photo, price, variable information such as size, colour weights, pack sizes, and description. You may also want to create product categories to help group large numbers of products. If you are selling clothing you might like to group products under traditional headings such as shirts, pants, jackets, etc. Some of our clients have 20 products others have 20,000. It is important for your web developer to know the scale of your store so they can provide a good solution for you.

3. Delivery – Work out how you are going to deliver your products to your customers and what costs should be associated with packaging and freight. Will you deliver locally, nationally, or internationally? You may need to consult a courier company to help with this area or alternatively offer free delivery. As mentioned this may impact your business model in regard to people resources required, the capacity to answering inquiries, customer service, and order fulfilment.

4. Payment processing – You will need to have a way of processing credit card payments online in a secure way. There are a number of providers who offer this service, such as Paypal, Stripe, or Paymark. We use Stripe because they are quick and easy to set up, have good support, and a huge international customer base. You also don’t need to have credit card processing facilities to use their service. All you need is a Stripe account and bank account to receive payments.

5. Legal – Legal documentation is required on eCommerce websites. This should include your terms and conditions, privacy policy, refund and return policy. Your lawyer should be able to help you here.

6. A website – You will need to have a basic website set up to start selling online. If you don’t have a website Downing can help get you started. Get in touch to find out how we can help you with this vital step.

It is preferable that you have your business domain name (www.mybusiness.co.nz) attached to your website too.

7. Customer Acquisition – You will need to consider how you will attract customers to your store once it is set up. You can start building an audience before you open your Ecommerce Platform. Social media can be used with great success to attract customers to your store? You can use social media platforms such as Instagram and facebook to build an audience that will be interested in your store and converted to customers once you launch. Email marketing is another powerful tool to lead customers to your digital store. Have you got a strategy to collect customer emails so you can lead them to your store?

Control ———————

Design ———————

Revenue 

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Stats ———————

Delivery

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Engagement

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Competition

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The Verdict

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