CUSTOM WEB DEVELOPMENT - WEB DESIGN
THE PROCESS
GOALS
There are many reasons to having a Web presence:
open a 24/7 sales channel;
develop international markets;
reach a targeted demographic group;
gain visibility;
reinforce branding;
support your customers;
promote specific products, services or events;
release time-sensitive materials;
manage the sales force;
train your personnel;
develop business or private networking;
access documents remotely, and more...
The goals have to be realistic and supported by an adequate budget. Usualy the budget is split 20/80 between the design / development and the maintenance / promotion phases. For some projects such as spot promos via microsites the budget split comes closer to 50/50.
The budget also dictates your design and development strategies: template-base, semi-custom, custom. Each of these options has its own advantages and pitfalls (see the design phase).
You should clearly define from the beginning the yardstick used to measure the success of the website or the Web application: is it an increase in sales by 10% reduction of marketing costs by 15% reduced client discontent by 50% increased conversion rate by 20% ( in the case of a redesign), etc.
It is extremely important to attach clear numbers to your goals, otherwise you will not be able to properly evaluate the ROI.
It is your responsability to define the goals, and our responsability to advise you on what is realistic and what may be unattainable.
Once the goals and the measures are established, a research process is required to evaluate possible avenues for that specific project.