21 October 2013
Shaun Westgate, Managing Director

Is your web design 'fit for purpose'?

Sinking boat

'You really don't want to be the person who commissioned the boat that didn't float'.

Befor you start designing your website, there is some important prep work that needs to be undertaken to ensure that when you launch your website it is 'fit for purpose'.

To create a successful website that helps meet your business objectives requires the right design approach. You need to prioritise your business objectives making them clearly measurable so that you can adapt or change where necessary, then you can decide exactly how your website is going to fit into your marketing plan and how it is going to effectively promote your service or product.

Clearly, your website needs to reflect your brand personality and have real 'stand out' from the competition. This can be achieved by using creative design but before this can be realised, the 'digital skeleton' needs to be produced. This is how the website will be structured, how it will work and what functionality it will require. This can only be decided once there is a clear understanding of the user groups, what they looking for, how they behave and what devices they will use to access the website. It is important to prioritise your user groups, creating a total website solution that is very inclusive and does not alienate anyone. You can also create user personas but don't focus too much on their demographic details. Focus more on what they want and how you are going to give it to them in the most engaging way.

The key to effective online marketing is an integrated approach. So it is also important that your website dovetails neatly with your Social Media strategy, so that all your communications work as hard as possible to meet your business objectives. How you intend to develop your Social Media strategy can have big implications on how you design your website. Also, another key element is how it will support your SEO strategy – depending on how ambitious your SEO plans are will have an impact on the type of web design you create.

So, spending quality time scoping out the needs of your website within your online marketing plan will ensure it will be 'fit for purpose' and help you achieve you business objectives. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like to chat to myself or any of the team here about how to develop an effective online proposition – shaun@westgatecomms.com



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