The pace of technological change, as we all know, continues to get faster and faster and for some of us it seems almost impossible to keep up with things - internet, social media, tweeting and texting - are all modes of communication which we are increasingly taking for granted.
Where is it leading us? I have just had an extremely interesting discussion on the design of a website for my business. Am I naive? The first question stumped me despite years of business experience - what do you want to achieve with it? Easy I thought but how wrong could I be.
It became very clear to me that you really need to understand the purpose of the site before you can even get to first base. Secondly you need to have an idea what your budget is or should be. I had never even thought about it but I should have!
I made a big mistake - I thought a website is a website but it became clear to me when I spoke with an expert that is much more than that - it can be your shop window but it can be the 'maker or breaker' of your business - when I was confronted with the most basic of questions I realised that I really needed to get a better understanding of what I wanted to achieve with the site.
At the end of the day without that basic understanding I could have wasted a lot of money investing in something I don't need - technology for the sake of technology - how often do we do that - particular we boys and our toys!
Well I have now given it some thought - I need it to be simple and easy to navigate so that my current and future clients get the information they need about me and my business.
At the end of the day I simply want people to know what I do and how I can help them do what they do better! A very basic lesson learned.
In summary, how many of us need to look at our websites and ask the same questions - I now realise that we all need a strategy for web development as much as we need a strategy for our business - without a clear and defined strategy we can waste time and energy as well as that important commodity - MONEY. So before you invest talk to someone who knows what they are doing and will help you decide what will meet your needs cost effectively. It has helped me!
Here's hoping that my website does what it sets out to do when I get it up and running. Maybe you will check it out in due course and let me know!!
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2 comments:
Couldn't agree more Clive. Many companies invest in websites simply to have an online presence and, while this does perform a certain function, how beneficial is it really?
If it is for re-assurance of professionalism and identity then are we as users naive enough to think that a website = integrity? I'd like to think not.
A website is no different in some respects to any other business development. Ask ourselves questions:
Why do I need a website?
What are the objectives of my website?
How can I measure if it is successful?
What is my ROI?
These are basic questions any team can answer in house.
The web is such an important tool as it is often a first point of contact and decisions can be made quickly - good and bad. That's where as a user experience designer (yes it is an official occupation :) ) comes in and can help with the scope of your site, what functionality you need & target the usability to your target audience.
That's only scratching the surface! Gone are the days of 'knocking out a quick site' - it's just false economy.
Invest in getting a website and usability right can yield dividends. A quality user experience can aid 'converting' casual browsers into performing a purchase or contact into active buyers etc. The tiniest increase in conversion rate can mean a dramatic increase in value.
The main thing is educating ourselves and other businesses what can be done and how it can influence perceptions and reputations.
Thanks Bob - look forward to seeing how things develop
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