Website Designing, Portal Development & E-Commerce

So you want a website?

It is but obvious that employing professionals to do the job for you guarantees you quality results, but before you set out to find the right website designer to do the job, it is much more serious to ascertain your goals and aims. Defining your scope and educating yourself will help keep delays and disappointments to a minimum.

Company websites must necessarily carry their logo, marketing message, location, phone number along with their goods and services. It is imperative to ascertain your expectations and functionality needs of the website before you employ a designer. Ideal design professionals also act as consultants who understand your scope and propose solutions for the same.

Ascertain your Wish List

First and foremost; identify your goals and objectives of having the website. Expect tangible results from the investment that you have made and set goals that will help you measure your results.

Your website can have a multitude of purposes like:
� Provide information
� Sell your products online
� Provide customer support or customer service
� Gather data for sales or marketing purposes etc

Once you ascertain the prime goal of your website, address more specific questions like:

� Do you need to purchase a domain name or URL?
� Do you need hosting service?
� How many web pages will be there and what all topics will they cover?
� Do you need interactive features like database connection, order tracking, log-in, calculator, or any feature where visitors would interact with your site?
� Do you need to have photos taken or stock photos purchased?
Your website can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, but building a list of objectives and means to get them will help your web designer develop an accurate quote, schedule and resource list.

Building an Understanding

Website design and development is a two-tier process that involves three parts:

� Web Design
� Web Development
� Further Updates

The web design part deals with what your website looks like. Graphic designers concentrate on the front end and select exact images, fonts, and layout for the same. A good designer understands what works on screen visually, how a visitor scans a page, and what technical limitations exist for web development.

The second part of the process is web development from the back end. A good web developer knows many programming languages, most importantly HTML, that permits browsers to display images and text. Other code terms include JavaScript, ASP and PHP etc.
The third part to consider is future growth and updates. Most websites must be updated on regular basis depending on the nature and purpose. Retail stores may want to change featured items weekly, and Ecommerce sites may need daily updates.

Comparing Options

There are firms out there that give all the services needed to fulfill your wish list. These companies have a staff of designers, developers, and technical support. If you decide to get your website designed from such firms, there are benefits you stand to gain, like:

� One point of contact and project management
� Better communication and integration of job elements and phases
� Big picture performance rather than simply completing daily tasks

Larger companies offer further marketing services like email campaigns, search engine marketing, and other programs to help drive in visitor traffic to your website.

Ensure you follow the A-B-C rule and pave your way to a successful website!