Embarking on a custom website design or redesign project is not to be taken lightly. Both the monetary and time commitments are large. Yet once completed, the impact of a new website design can last for years! The following six steps will help you select the right partner, identify the website goals and track the progress of the design/redesign so that your website is built correctly the first time!

STEP 1: Pick a Partner, Not Just an Agency.

Picking a website development company is never an easy task. The first step in setting yourself up for success is to pick a partner and not just an agency. A partner will have your strategic goals in mind while developing your website and not just the end product. Look for a partner who:

-  Can provide you with examples of live websites they completed (Experience in your specific industry is not necessary, but can be beneficial)

-  Will market your website post development. (A) Partners who have incentive for post-production work are generally more inclined to take the extra steps to keep your business. (B)  Partners without specific Search Engine Optimization or Pay Per Click Advertising experience may not be aware of subtle techniques which will need to be updated for the marketing of your site.

-  Website Development is never over. Even once the finished product is live, keep in mind that tweaks and updates are needed. Having a partner who you trust and who knows the back end system of the site will ease and expedite updates.

-  Ask for references!  When speaking with the references (yes, you should actually call them!), ask them about the process:
How were their interactions with the agency?
How flexible was the agency?
Did the agency propose solutions and suggestions (usability, plug-ins, etc)?
Did the agency develop the site on their own staging/development server?
Did the agency meet timelines?

STEP 2: Identify Your Website’s Goals.

Many of my clients have turned to me and said, “I want a website that wins awards”. While an award winning website is a great ego-stroke, there are no studies relating website awards won and increased conversions. If you cannot identify a goal/conversion metric for your website, consult with your partner. If they cannot help you, pick another partner!

Be sure not to cram all of the information and calls to action above the fold! Your site should have a clean and logically organized design that doesn’t try to be all things to all people. Use your real-estate wisely and never be afraid to test!

Understand what your client’s are looking for – If you are not sure how your customers are currently using your website or even the makeup of your target audience, Pew Internet has some good Data Tools which can help you identify your target audience and design a site which meets your client’s needs while increasing conversions.

STEP 3: Set a Timeline and Major Milestones.

Pick a partner who clearly lays out timelines, steps and major milestones. There are many tasks being complete which you cannot see (Ex: Server set-up). Major milestones should be in place so you can track the development progress. The agency you choose should have a process in place that they follow. Our process includes:

-  Functional Specifications Document (FSD)

-  Site Architecture

-  Design and Usability

-  Development, QA, and Launch

-  Continuous Optimization

Understand what your partner’s process is and why! It is okay to request modifications to the process or to ask for details on what is included within a process, but understand that you cannot build the highway and then decide if the road goes in the direction you want.

STEP 4: Identify Needed Assets

This may be the first production step within the website development. Your partner should give you a list of items they will need to develop the site. Have you provided their team with everything they will need upfront to complete the website? Putting all required asset information within one email/file will keep everything organized and clean.

Note: If you need to remove an agency/disgruntled former employee/ a-wall developer’s access, save the time and do so first.

STEP 5: Be Flexible

Similar to any building project, issues will arise; it’s inevitable. Often it is your very own request (usually outside of the original project scope) which cause these hiccups. Be firm, yet flexible with your partner. If your partner says “let me look into that” or “I know of a platform that will perform what you are requesting”, be sure to ask the question, “How will this impact our completion date”?  If you do not ask, they may not tell you.

STEP 6: TEST TEST TEST!

Every company will tell you that they Quality Assurance test your site, but is that time built into the project timeline? What steps are they taking to test the site? Many often over-looked tests include:

Has your analytics account/software been installed correctly?

Do the forms on your site function correctly?
-  Emailing correctly (Format, subject and addresses)?
-  Sending out from your server and not just theirs?
-  Required fields accepting correct data?

Are you, the client, able to make updates to the site easily?
-  Add a page?
-  Delete a page?
-  Add text to a page?

Can you process test transactions on your website?
-  Can you reverse a transaction?

Is your site compatible in all browsers?
-  Though only used by 4.4% of the population . IE6 has limitations which prevent some of the amazing functions your site has been built with to work. Agencies may charge you more if this requirement is not tested prior to launch.

If you follow the above suggestions to pick the right web development partner, you will have a successful, converting website that you can both be proud of.

Website design and development can be a frustrating process for both the designer and the client because it is a creative process and there are usually several people involved on both sides providing feedback and guidance.  Everyone has a different opinion on what looks good and what will properly reflect the company’s brand image.

To avoid obstacles and communication issues throughout the website design process, it is better to spend more time on discovery and the initial planning.  Here are seven tips to help ensure the end result is a success for both the client and the designer  Internet marketing company.

ONE:  Gain an Intimate Understanding of Their Business

This seems obvious but this step is often rushed.  To truly provide value and show your client that your care about their business, you need to learn about their business model, revenue streams, financial goals, corporate culture, and future vision.

TWO:  Know the Competition

It is important as the designer to understand who your client’s competitors are.  Find out who their offline and online competition is.  There may be a difference in who they are competing with in the search engine results and who they truly consider their competitor.  You should know both sides and find out what their competition is doing right as well as where they are falling short. 

THREE:  Understand Their Design Goals

During the discovery process it is often helpful to provide the client with a questionnaire such as a “needs analysis” or “design questionnaire” so you can extract as much information as possible such as color pallet ideas, websites they like and don’t like, desired functionality, and basic conversion goals.  For example, is the purpose of the site to simply inform, or will it be meant to generate new business, or both?

FOUR:  Get a List of Website They Like

One of the best ways to get behind the “design” eye of your client is to have them provide you a list of three to five websites they like.  Make sure they provide you with details about why they like the designs and any aspects about the sites they do not like. 

FIVE:  Understand Budget Ranges

This can be a sensitive discussion early on because the client will not want to give up any negotiating power by simply answering your question, “What is your Budget?”  However, quite often the client does not have a sound understanding of how their vision for their new website will translate into design and development time…and money!  That is why the discovery process is so important.  Whether you are a freelance designer or a full scale Internet marketing company, the process should be the same.  The budget will immediately help you communicate to the client what is possible and what is not. 

SIX:  Understand Functionality and Optimization Goals

This part is very important.  Many times a designer may not be the individual actually developing the website.  This can be problematic of the designer has more of a graphic design background and a limited understanding of the development process.  Sometimes great designs don’t translate well on the web or may not be feasibly from a development perspective depending on the functionality needs of the client.  Make sure you communicate with the development team so they understand how you plan to lay things out.  All designers these days should also have at least a basic understanding of search engine optimization.  It is frustrating for a client when they spend a lot of time and money having a great website designed only to find out month later that it has to be rebuilt for SEO purposes. 

SEVEN:  Functional Specifications

The result of the discovery process should be a very detailed FSD (functional specifications document) that both the website designer/developer and the client sign off on.  This ensures that there is a blueprint to consult when there is confusion about what is or is not “in scope”.  This is the MOST important part of the project and should not be rushed.  The FSD should include details on design, functionality, timeline, budget, and all supporting details and documentation gathered during the discovery phase.  A good FSD will include the wire frames and maybe even some initial design mocks.  Make sure the FSD is in line with the contract and that deliverables are detailed.  Because website design is a creative process, the client will think of things along the way that they did not initially communicate during discovery.  Depending on how simple or complex these requests are, you can make a judgment call whether to include the additional requests or possible provide the client with an additional quote based on estimates hours.

It certainly should be!  I will start by saying this…if you have a website design company or website development firm building you a site but they do not know anything about organic search engine optimization (SEO), your site will not be set up properly for achieving natural rankings.  It is often a tough pill to swallow when someone just spent $50,000 on a website but then find out that it is invisible to Google.  There are many important steps that should be taken during the website design phase of an Internet marketing campaign that will ensure long term visibility in the SERPs (search engine results pages).

So what does this have to do with keyword research?  Let’s first define keyword research and then apply that definition to help answer this question.  Keyword research is a process used by search engine optimization professionals to determine what key terms and phrases best apply to a given website or online marketing campaign.  For example, if a company that sells shoes on their website, they would first want to begin by defining their exact goals and brand niche.  Keywords associated with “shoes” are going to be very competitive so the company would want to narrow the focus and generate a list of terms directly associated with their products. 

Here are some steps to take when starting keyword research:

• Determine the business goals you want to achieve through your online platform
• Define your brand, products, and services
• Start an initial list of terms you would want your site to appear for
• Use both broad terms and very specific terms (and combinations of them)

A good Internet marketing company will use your initial list to begin research but will also do extensive research on your industry as it applies to online searches.  Many times the terms and keywords a company thinks they should appear for may not be the most appropriate terms for traffic and conversions.  For example, a company owner may want to appear for terms more associated with their brand.  During the research process though it might be discovered that those terms are never searched.  This of course means that the terms are not competitive but there may not be a need to use resources to focus on them if they won’t drive targeted traffic.

The difference between broad/generic terms and “long tail” terms:  Broad terms are generally defined as the more competitive and less specific keywords associated with a search.  For example, if you sell used cars in downtown Philidelphia, you may not want to try to focus on just the term “used cars”.  Broad terms like this are very competitive and some sites will not have the ability to reach page one of Google.  Many experts believe the broad terms are useless for conversions anyway.  If your site appears for broad terms like this it will drive large amounts of traffic and be great for brand exposure, but in the long run it will be the more specific terms that will convert. 

Using this example, someone who types in “used car dealer downtown Philidelphia” will be much more likely to convert than someone just searching the terms “used cars”.  This is why using a mix of long tail keywords is so important too.  Long tail terms are the more specific and often geographically targeted keyword phrases.  Another example would be to compare a broad term like “Manhattan apartments” and a long tail term like “Manhattan highrise apartments near Central Park”.  The long tail terms like this generally have a higher conversion rate for obvious reasons…they are more specific and will drive more targeted quality traffic.

We won’t go into the intricate details of developing a good keyword list right now because I want to get into the discussion of how important it is for website development.  Why spend time and money building a site if it will never have the ability to appear in the natural search engine placements.  Makes sense right?  Unfortunately, this is where many website design firms fall short.  It is imperative to understand at least the basics of SEO in order to build the proper framework for a website. 

A good Internet marketing company will build a website keeping the following things in mind:

• Proper keywords associated with each page
• On page content – ensuring those keywords are used
• Title tags – using most relevant keywords associtaed with each page
• Meta descriptions – the source code must contain a description that uses the keywords associated with the page
• Keywords – the source code will also show a list of the most relevant keywords for each page
• H1, H2 tags – these must be embedded in each page as well to support the title tags and content on the page – again, keywords must be used
• Site map – I don’t know how many times I have seen fancy websites that do not even include a site map; without this the search engines can not properly index your pages and you will not rank

All of the elements above can of course be handled during an orgainc search engine optimization campaign but they really should be handled during the development process…otherwise, you will just have to spend more time and money having an SEO company or online marketing company redo the work!  Save yourself time and energy and hire a website development company that knows SEO!