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Audience, Purpose & Outcome
When planning your site think about your demographics.
· Who will be visiting?
· How will they find your site?
· Do you need different sections for different groups of people or different services?
· What is the purpose of the site?
· What is the hoped for outcome from a visit to your website?
· Visitor has more information about you?
· Better understanding of your services?
· Learn how to use something they bought from you?
· Contact you?
· Buy something from your site?
Content & Structure
The content of your website is the photos, graphics, text, audio and video that make up the information people come to your site for. You are usually responsible for providing most of the content, especially the textual material and company related graphics like logos. Your designer will work with you to produce other media for your website. As you plan, be aware of what material will need timely updates and how and by whom it will be updated. Will someone from your company do it or will you pay to have your designer do it?
The structure is how the content is placed, linked and formatted on the site. This is the main task of the designer. They take your knowledge of your business and format it into a powerful multimedia tool.
Cost
There are several cost points in developing and maintaining a website. (Some companies may combine these cost but we break them out here for you.)
· Domain Name Registration: there is a yearly fee to register your domain name (www.yourcompany.com). This is an ongoing fee for the life of the website.
· Website Hosting: your website lives on a server somewhere which is paid in yearly or monthly amounts. Various hosting plans vary widely in what is offered. We strongly recommend checking with your designer about hosting options. They know what your website will require and they can offer you a good deal on hosting. Another advantage of having your designer host for you is it cuts down on the number of people you need to deal with. This is an ongoing fee for the life of the website.
· The Design Work: this is the fee you pay for the layout of your site and may include the production of additional media, such as video or animated graphics. This is a one time fee. Updates are usually charged separately as needed.
· Search Engine Optimization (SEO): designing your website to be easily read and higher ranked on search engines. Basic SEO should be part of the design package. However if you expect to get most of your traffic from search engines you may need to find a separate company that offers more in depth placement services involving paying for keywords and using search ads. This can be a one time fee or on going. We work with Dennis Schrand of AdzZoo to offer the best in online marketing. 813-843-0894 or visite Website.
· Content Maintenance and Updating: as was stated in the planning section, material needs to be updated. Will you need to allocate staff time to do this or work out a contract with your designer?
Lighthouse Media Works is happy to consult with you about your media strategy at no cost. It is our mission to help small business and organizations understand and utilize the power of media in today’s market place. Contact us now to leverage the power of media for your business.
