The process of creating a website begins with the realization that, first of all, it is a tool for running a successful business. Accordingly, the incentives for the development of the site are either its absence or the inability of the existing site to solve the tasks urgent for the company. The reasons for a site’s “inoperability” may vary; for example, inconvenient site structure, old design, lack of a content management system, or other motives. A professional team should do corporate website development; otherwise, the problem will not be solved. Besides, at this stage, the client should clearly enough formulate the goals and objectives of the project (as well as the criteria for assessing the achievement of this goal).
Initial stage — setting goals and objectives
Goals are what you want to achieve in the future, these are expectations and prospects that may or may not come true as a result of certain actions. All goals must be: measurable, achievable and time-limited. The exact answer to the question: have the set goals been achieved, can be obtained after a certain time allotted for their achievement. Some of the goals most often formulated by clients are:
- increasing consumer awareness and loyalty to a brand or company, maintaining a positive image of the company;
- increase in the number of clients and partners of the company;
- increase in sales of services and products;
- contact with the target audience, providing it with the necessary and relevant information, operational interaction with customers, partners, dealers;
- sale of goods and services via the internet;
- marketing research.
Tasks are specific actions aimed at achieving a goal. The tasks are planned and have certain requirements (technical specifications, budget, etc.). Setting goals correctly contributes to the achievement of ultimate goals. As a rule, site developers are assigned several tasks aimed at achieving the main goals. Here is some of them:
- Development of a stylish design that takes into account the corporate identity of the company.
- Creation of convenient, useful, or entertaining services for the target audience (for example, flash games, which are based on some kind of interaction with the promoted product).
- Creation of a communication environment (forums, blogs, message boards).
- Creation of marketing tools (feedback, questionnaires, surveys, testing).
- Creation of a resource convenient for making a purchase – choosing, purchasing, and using a product or service (product catalogs with the ability to pay and order goods, sites that provide information on a paid basis, etc.).
At the first stage, it is very important to correctly define the goals and objectives of the site, as well as highlight the most important of them. The correct setting of the task and a clear understanding of the ultimate goal are the key to a positive result in the future. Corporate website development in Canada allows you to define the right objectives that will align with the overall marketing and advertising objectives of the company.
How to create an optimal design
The phrase “beautiful design” can be interpreted in many ways. The most important rule is that the functionality of the site must be respected. The creation of an optimal design, first of all, is to create functionality for future users of this resource. The task is to create a design and arrange the elements of the site so that the visitor can easily find the information he needs.
You need to make sure that the user has a pleasant experience on your page. First of all, there is no need to oversaturate the site with unnecessary animation and bulky objects. Take popular resources as an example and carefully study the functionality of their pages.
Evaluation of the result and website promotion
Currently, it is not enough just to develop a high-quality website with a convenient structure and navigation — it is important to provide this site with high traffic. This can be achieved not only by placing advertisements in the media, but also by promoting the site in search engines. So, the site is ready and put into operation, but how to evaluate the result? The assessment of the result can be high if three important conditions are met:
- The assigned task was completed following the requirements of the client.
- The final goals of the site have been achieved.
- The client is satisfied with the quality of the service.
The quality of the site is a characteristic of the totality of the results of the contractor’s activities and communications with him, which the client receives throughout all stages of the development and operation of the site. Only a professional development team can help you create a quality website and promote it to a leading position. Most of the work on website promotion should be laid down initially, when designing a project, so the people who are involved in this must be competent in optimization issues. The same guidelines apply to the design and programming phases.