So finally, you have decided to create or update your website. It was anyways a high time you did that. Looking at the way customer behavior, technology and other competitive scenario is changing today, it is important first to have a website and second, to keep it updated with times. 

However, it is more important to address a few questions before embarking on this journey of creating new site or revamping the existing one. We will make it easier for you to take the right call by asking yourself 10 pertinent questions.  There is no right or wrong answers for these questions. We at Become Digital Today have dipped into our past experiences, interacted with our numerous clients and have arrived at these simple yet pertinent questions which should be asked every time you are planning to build or revamp a websites. We find them very useful and are sure you too will. So have a look:

1. What is your business all about?

This may be a very straightforward question to answer, but most of the times brands/people confuse this with what they physically do. E.g. telecommunication companies are not into a telecommunication business, they are facilitators of business through their telecom services, a beauty salon is not in a beauty business, but they are transforming the personality of their clients, a business consulting is not a consultant, but a friend, philosopher and guide to his clients who helps in growing the business. So, it is important to identity what business are you exactly in before proceeding.

2. Why do you need a website?

The answer to this question is linked to the answer to the previous question. A telecom company website would like to enumerate how it can facilitate its clients business or customers lives and act as a single point  of contact for its customers transactional needs (account management, buying of services, plans, lodging grievances etc) all it. A beauty salon wants its clients to see how it can transform its customers and boost their personality, by showcasing various solutions and also facilitate booking of appointments.  A business consultant may want to highlight the transformations brought about by him to his clients and showcase himself as a thought leader to attract more clients. One should know exactly what is the website aiming to achieve before starting to work on it.

3. Who is your customer?

The website should be designed keeping in mind the customer (existing and potential). For a telecom company, the customers can be almost everybody. Hence it needs to address to a very general audience with related services and businesses with business solutions. For a beauty salon, depending upon their expertise and their existing client profile, it needs to decide the services that it wants to highlight. For a business consultant, depending on his area of expertise, clients with relevant needs should be targeted.

4. What is so special about your business?

Today, every business category has competition by a dozen. What are those elements that make you stand out of the crowd. What are the factors that are so special about your business that customers will ignore others and come to you? Answers to these questions will make you realise that what needs to be highlighted and what needs to be just mentioned on the site. These are the main reasons why a customer will choose you over competition.

5. Who are your competitors and what are they doing?

There is no better way to get inspired in life than watching our competitors. Often, it is our competitors that force us think out of the box or come out with a winning strategy. They often act as a mirror and show us what is good in us and what is not. Also, at times competition acts like a beckon that forewarns of the changes that industry may face in the future. Hence, always think and evaluate the competition before beginning to work on your own website.

6. Personally, which website(s) do you like?

The websites that you like are generally the ones which you like to emulate because, according to you, they have all the elements that appeal to the customer in you. This makes the design selection process easier by clearly identifying the elements that you want to include and those you do not. However care should be taken that you don’t go overboard with this alone as some of the elements that you want to include may not be relevant to your business or viceversa.

7. What would you like to include/exclude on your website?

A telecom company would like to highlight its cutting edge technology, uninterrupted services and cost effective plans. A beauty salon would like to showcase its expertise and ease of appointment booking. While a business consultant would like to show his topical expertise and past successes. In all the above cases, the website is intended to reach out customers and influence their buying behavior in their favour. Hence, a telecom company would want to include a weekly/monthly/quarterly newsletter to showcase its clients achievement, a beauty salon would like to focus on appointments, while a business consultant may want to encourage viewership of its blogs/articles that will help him establish as a though leader so that new customers can reach out to him for solutions. Hence, websites should include/exclude things like instant messenger (must for a telecom company, but not for a business consultant), email ID (must for all), personal contact details (not required for a telecom company, may be for a beauty salon, but must for a consultant) etc.

8. How will the performance be measured?

What are the parameters that will decide the performance of a website should be clearly defined. A telecom company would want new customer visits as one of the criteria, a beauty salon may want appointments booked as a success criteria, while a business consultant may look at calls received as a success parameter. Depending upon the parameter, the design of the website will get influenced.

9. How does the existing marketing collateral look like?

It is of great importance that the website and marketing collateral speak in the same language. All the multi-media channels deployed should speak in unison to create a maximum impact. Hence, the design elements that are already successful and in use, should be carried on to the website as well. Also, as and when each elements is up for renewal or refreshing, then they should incorporate successful elements from other channels. This will increase the success rate and performance of each of the channels further.

10. Are you getting the help of a right expert?

There are enough and more ‘experts’ in the world today who can potentially advise you. However, selecting the right one is the key. The expert should not only be knowledgeable about the subject, but should also know the business, technologies and factors that will influence your business. The person should also have one eye on the future and one eye on the past to know the past mistakes/ successes and upcoming trends that will have an impact in the days to come.

We at Become Digital Today believe that making a website is like creating your own personality on the web. Hence, it needs a much longer thinking that that involved in buying a simple T-shirt. Afterall, you will discard your T-shirt after a couple of uses, but how can you get rid of your personality?

So, be wise and spend some time today rather than repenting tomorrow!

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