Web Site Planning Guide

What type of web site do you need?

Personal: A blog, biography, photo gallery, etc.
Artist’s Gallery: Online gallery of art work, may include exhibition information, contact, gallery affiliation and more.
Small business ‘brochure’ site: An online version of a brochure, giving basic information for services/products, contact information, location, hours etc.
Online store with e-commerce: Selling products or digital downloads online with card payment functionality.

Where will your website ‘live’? Finding the right location to build and host your website:

Using a hosting service. Installing and configuring software (WordPress.org) for a fully customizable design. Ongoing maintenance, updates and monitoring required.
Using Wix, Squarespace or WordPress.com. These offer template-based designs, with the ability for authorized users to update and manage their content. Customizable templates with some limitations. Maintenance, updates and security included.

Domain name:

Do you have a domain name, and/or is your business name available?
The domain name or “URL” is your address on the internet, ie: www.yourname.com.

Planning and site contents:

Type of business: What is your type of business, and who are your clients? Knowing what kind of viewer will visit your site will help establish a suitable design.
Content: How much information do you plan to present on the web site? How many pages, images, galleries. Establish a starting amount of content, and content can be added at any time.
Email: It’s advisable to have an email address @yourmain.com. Not essential, but helps legitimize any email’s sent from through the website using forms.
Social Media: Posting regularly on platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc, is essential to promote and drive visitors to the website.
Dynamic Content: Option to include 3rd-party advertising, live feeds and/or other interactive features.

There are many things to consider before starting a website project. Having the necessary information organized and ready-to-go will speed up the website development process – and help keep costs down.