Contact Rick to discuss your ideas about your new website. This is simply the initial step, so you may not have all the details yet. If not, then Rick can probably help you with every task.
Some things to think about for this discussion:
- Purpose - What is the overall purpose of your new website? Is it to increase business sales and revenue? To share information about an upcoming wedding? Make new contacts?
- Type - What type of website will this be? Some basic types include a business website, personal website, musician/artist portfolio website, event promotion website, and e-commerce website.
- Content - Do you already have content for your new website, or do we need to create/identify content? Think about text, photos, audio, video, etc.
- Look & Feel - How do you want this new website to look? Colors? Fonts? Layout? Navigation?
- Domain Name - Do you already own a domain name? If not, Rick can help with this.
- Hosting - Do you already have website hosting arranged? If not, Rick can help with this.
- Timeline - Do you have a timeline for your new website? For example, if your website is to promote an upcoming wedding, then we have a timeline.
- Budget - Do you have a budget for your new website?
- Ongoing Maintenance - How frequently do you want to change the content of your website? For a simple business website, the content might not change very often - maybe once every year to update new business hours, add some fresh photos, etc. The content will probably change frequently for a musical band website that lists upcoming shows.
This step happens fairly quickly for simple websites - maybe a 15-minute phone call. For more complex websites, scheduling a meeting or conference call and expecting 30 to 60 minutes might be best.
Work with Rick to make decisions regarding your new website. By investing a bit more time in the planning step, later steps usually go much faster and with better results - saving you time and money!
Website Structure
Each type of website has a typical set of web pages. For example, many business websites typically have the following web pages:
- Home Page - A home page provides basic, high-level, concise information about your business - like the business name, what you do or sell, your logo, and sometimes just a bit more. This page should catch the attention of potential customers.
- About Us - An About Us page explains who you are as a business. This page tells your story. Is your business a multi-generation family-owned business? What expertise do you offer? Photos of the owners, managers, and employees are excellent.
- Products or Services - A products/services web page provides more information about what you sell, often including a list of products/services with photos and descriptions.
- Contact Us - A contact web page provides information about how potential customers can contact you. This page often includes your business hours, location, phone number, and email address.
Some websites have more pages - there are no rules or requirements. Some websites have unique content. Examples of other pages:
- A Photo Gallery page
- An Events page
- A BLOG page
- A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page