Do It Yourself or Hire a Developer

Be honest with your skills first and foremost. Today most people know how to put a website online or know someone in the family who can do it for them. If you are in business and wanting to establish an extension of your business online, you have to do it right or you are wasting your money.

Find a developer that will educate you and listen to your concerns and desires. A good web developer will guide you with a plan, and you most likely will have homework. No web developer can just toss up a site on the Internet, guessing what you need and want.

Below is a guide of things to think about and how you need to prepare for your project.

Know What You Want Before Establishing A Web Presence: Bringing your business online effectively can be a valuable asset. Your online presence should/will reflect your company values, ethics, products/services, and professionalism. You must define your goals much the same as starting a brick and mortar business and be determined to succeed in reaching these goals. Too many businesses place emphasis on one key area or another, and neglect seeing the total picture of what is needed to be successful in reaching the goals and intents for their online presence. If you simply would like a business card on the web - this article is not for you. A simple business card web site will have the same results as the business cards you carry - if you don't literally "hand them" to someone, they will never see it.

Who Is Your Target Audience: Who is your product or information targeted at? Consumers, Business professionals, Resellers, Adults, Teens, Male, or Female? Are they fluent with the web? Address these types of questions to understand who is using your web site. Get to know your target audience, and use this information to build the foundation of your web presence.

What Site Features Will You Need: Will you need a database? Shopping cart? Membership services? Consider applications you may need for your website. Don't stress over the cost of these applications. Make a list of these web based applications you like because this is just the information gathering phase. This step will help you understand what you want and/or need going into the development process.

Keep Your Site Visitors In Mind: It is your duty to present your content so that it is attractive, usable, and sticky for site visitors. Content planning is a delicate and strategic task in capturing your audience. Publishing all your whitepapers on your website is sure to put anyone to sleep! Understanding your target audience's needs will provide you a clear picture of how to deliver the message.

Navigate Your Audience Or Lose Them Forever: Simple navigation structure is the key to drawing site visitors into your website. Keep it simple and organized. A hierarchical site plan pulls all your content together, presenting a solid content-rich format without getting lost.

Technology And Cost Considerations: Now is the time to review the wish list of the website technologies you originally want to implement into your website. Present your plan and examples to your web developer and discuss the functions of each application you desire. Present your developer with your collection of bookmarks and/or working examples. This gives the developer a working model of what you want. Together, through consultation, the developer and you can discuss what technologies and solutions are right for your budget.

Keep Your Vision On Track: Your vision should never drop out of sight. Throughout the process make sure that you remain working side by side with your developer. Communication between you and the developer is critical to the success of your web presence. By applying all the above strategies you should be able to have developed a comprehensive, written plan in what you hope to accomplish. Remember your Web developer is translating your vision.