So you want a company website
Benchmarks for designing your website
Vi3 Technologies | Website Design Benchmarks
Launching a successful web site design project can be a real challenge, starting with defining the scope of effort. Even if you start off planning a simple web site with a few basic pages and no bells and whistles, you may find the complexity and cost of the project snowballing as more people - both internal and external - get involved.
At a minimum, you need a site that represents your business: one with a professional look, your logo and key marketing messages, and basics like your phone number, location(s), and products.
Your needs may expand to collecting customer information, selling products online, or connecting to your internal software systems. Once you lock down exactly what functionality you need from your site, you'll be able to choose a web site design vendor who can offer you the best combination of value and results.
If you're not familiar with web site design, you may have some misconceptions to overcome. Some things that you may think are simple won't be; other features you may not have considered may be fairly easy to add.
Let your professional web project manager act as your consultant
The best web site design professionals act like consultants - working to understand your needs, then proposing solutions.
Whether you're building a site from scratch or updating an existing site, the first thing to do is to decide on your web design objectives.
Simply "having a web site" is not a goal - nor is it a good use of your time and money.
Your goals for the site will help determine who you should work with and how much the site will cost.
Ask yourself --what you want your site to accomplish?
- Dispense information? (Note this is OK! Many businesses need a site that just provides basic contact information, directions, and hours. If that's all you want, you will save yourself quite a bit of money.)
- Conduct e-commerce site - one that handles online transactions?
- Gather data for sales or marketing purposes?
- Provide customer support or customer service?
Once you know the goals, you can address more specific questions about what you want your web design project to include:
- What sections do you want in your site? (About your company, product pages, executive bios, discussion boards, customer service information, press releases… )
- About how many pages do you want?
- Do you already have a logo, or do you need your site designer to create one?
- Does your site need to have any dynamic information or interactive capabilities? (e.g., database connections, order tracking, password-protected areas, on-site games or calculators, or anything else that lets visitors interact with your site.)
- Do you need secure connections?
Your web design project can be as simple - or as complex - as your imagination and/or budget allows. Having answers to these questions will help you quickly set expectations with potential vendors.
There are two major components to building a web site: the "front end" and the "back end."
For the most part, "design" refers to the front end - what people see - and "development" to the back end - what makes it work.
Two other parts needed to make your site complete are hosting - where your web site is run from - and e-commerce, which is often built and managed separately from the rest of your site.
Your "front end"--is it all "flash"?
Front end: web site design and content
The front end is what your web site looks like: the images and text that make up your site. Graphic designers concentrate on the front end, choosing appropriate images, fonts, and layout. They should have a strong understanding of what works visually on a computer screen and know what the technical limitations are in designing for the web.
Be wary of choosing a web designer based only on a portfolio. Sites that look beautiful in printouts may be slow and hard to use. Examples shown via the designer's web site may be full of flash - and Flash (see "Back end: web site building and development") - but lacking in content or real value. A good web designer needs to combine technical and design expertise.
You will be responsible for the content of your web site: if you have a "history" page, you'll have to write the content for it; if you have a products page, you'll have to supply the images and descriptions that make up the page.
The back end is most important, though it doesn't appear to be...
Back end: web site building and development
Web developers actually build your site, writing the back end code that makes it work. The HTML (HyperText Markup Language) code they write allows visitors' browsers to display your images and read your text - it's the common language of the web. Developers don't usually call it "programming" when they're working on basic web sites.
Some other back end terms you might encounter:
- Javascript is used for simple site functionality such as making sure users have filled out forms correctly, pop up windows (the helpful kind, not the ads), and some kinds of animation.
- ASP and PHP provide customization and interactivity, such as collecting data from visitors or displaying account information. BTW--Vi3 develops sites and applications in the .Net framework...using ASP 3.5, for your information.
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) let you easily control the look of your entire web site from a central file.
- Flash allows for interactive menus, animated presentations, and interactive tools.
Bonus design tip: skip the fancy Flash animated introduction.Visitors don't want to watch it and you'll save money.
Choosing between outsourcing development and in-house work
Hosting
For customers to access your web site, it needs to reside on a server connected to the Internet. For a basic web site, the server can be a fairly modest computer. Unless you plan to turn your site into an Internet powerhouse, your hosting needs should be fairly straightforward at first. Hosting should also cover data backup and security for any customer data being collected.
E-commerce
If you sell products directly through your web site, you're doing e-commerce. Typically, e-commerce services are considered to be a separate project from the construction of a web site, due to the different back-end tools to set up and run the online store. Many web site designers offer e-commerce development as well, but it's usually priced separately.
Depending on your site needs, budget, and internal staff capabilities, your project can involve any combination of web site design services, professional web designers, and your own employees. Here are three options:
- Keep it all in-house. If your needs are relatively simple or if you have design and programming skills in-house, you'll save quite a bit of money- at least on the surface. Professional web designers activities can quickly become a drain on productivity if you don't keep careful track of the resources they require.
- Farm it all out. If you want interactive tools, complex e-commerce functions, or just don't have technical staff available, you can easily outsource your entire site development project. Remember that you'll always need at least some internal resources to work on content and to guide the professional web designers.
- Mix it up. Your third option is to do some of the work in-house, and outsource the tasks your company can't handle to professional web designers. This is a very popular way to achieve some cost savings while not overtaxing your staff.
What to outsource?
Design - Simply put, if you don't have professional web designers on staff, look to a vendor. Having someone who is somewhat familiar with Adobe Photoshop is not enough. Development - If you're planning a basic informational site and have an IT staff, you can probably handle the development in house. Hosting - An in-house IT staff can set up a basic web host very easily. However professional hosting companies provide guaranteed uptimes of over 99% and high-quality backup and security policies - for a relatively low monthly cost.
Take caution if your staff is already spread very thin. Even if you can do the work in-house, that doesn't mean you should. Web site development projects are notorious for "scope creep" - gaining complexity as they progress. It may make sense to use contract web designers and let your employees focus on the day-to-day work of running the business.
"Development shops" or "freelancers"?
If you decide you need outside help, as most businesses do, there are two different types of providers you can turn to: all-in-one development shops, or freelancers.
All-in-one web site design services
Many web site design firms provide all the services you need, from initial design to development and maintenance. These companies may have professional web designers, developers, and IT professionals on staff, outsource one aspect to a partner company, or work with a number of freelancers who provide different specialties. No matter how they manage the job, they provide a couple of key advantages.
- First, by providing you with one point of contact, they ease the management of the entire project.
- Second, because all the key players work together, there are fewer integration problems or communication hassles.
- Third, having one company manage all aspects of the project can allow them to focus on understanding and addressing your business needs, rather than simply following a checklist of development tasks.
Many larger web site design services offer other marketing services, such as email campaigns, search engine marketing, and more programs to help drive visitors to your web site. They can be the best route if you're outsourcing your entire project or aren't familiar with web site development.
Vi3 Technologies naturally believes the services we offer constitute the best buy in the marketplace. We develop with the proficiency of our big brother, Telligent, but don't charge the same hourly rates. :)
Freelancers
The web development industry supports a large number of freelance web developers and web designers. If you're taking a "mix it up" approach to your development project, it's often cheaper to hire a freelance web designer or developer than to hire a larger company and only use one aspect of their services. Working with freelance web designers can also give you more control over the project, although that comes at the price of requiring more project management work on your part.
One aspect of launching a new web site that many businesses overlook is planning for ongoing updates. At an absolute minimum, you should try to update your web site every three months, even if the edits are simple text changes and additions. If you're conducting e-commerce, you may need to update prices or availability at any time.
Keeping your website "fresh and up-to-date"
There is nothing that speaks louder about your company than a stale web presence.
There are three main ways to handle web site updates
Have your web site designers make updates for you. web site designers either charge a monthly fee for a set amount of changes, or charge per hour for each change that they make. Since simple text updates can be done in a matter of minutes, this is an economical choice if you don't intend to update your site very frequently.
Implement a system that lets you update text. Many web site design firms offer content management systems that let you edit site content without learning any programming languages. Depending on the complexity of your site, this can range from a small additional expense to a considerable upgrade. However, it frees you from the hassle of contacting external web site designers every time you want to make a change. (Vi3 offers both Community Server and Graffiti--both of them are equipped with Robust Content Management functionality!)
Have an internal staffer manage updates. Even if you outsource the production of your site, your internal tech staff should be able to make basic web site updates without too much trouble. If you have the staff in place, this option is the least expensive and gives you the greatest control.
It's not necessary to choose one of the approaches before you start. Talk to your vendor about the expected magnitude and frequency of your web site updates and they should be able to present you with the right option for your needs, budget, and internal capabilities.
You may even wind up with a combination of these three. For example, your e-commerce setup may come with an interface that lets you manage product prices and availability, but to update other parts of your site you'll have to contact your web site designers.
If you want a simple informational site, perhaps with very straightforward e-commerce and no tricky interactive features, you should look for website design companies that specialize in small business web site packages.
If you want a web site that addresses complicated business problems, connects to your existing databases or customer service systems, or offers e-commerce that's more than point, click, and buy, you will want to find website design companies who work as consultants, rather than a production line.
This is an important distinction. Website design companies that focus on basic small business sites will be able to create a site for you quickly and for less money than more wide-ranging firms. Companies with an emphasis on working with you to define and address your business needs will cost more, but can help your business in ways you might not have considered.
