Know your competition
Competition is what makes us keeps us on our toes. Keep an eye out on your competitors and what they are doing with their business and their website. If you are aware of what the competition is doing then your business will have the opportunity to be one step ahead, be unique and be the leader. Any experienced web designer will ask you for inspiration sites and your competitor sites so that your website will look and function specifically for your business and your target audience
Know your budget
And if you don’t know your budget, set one. Many small businesses know they need a website or a web design but have champagne dreams and a beer budget. One thing you should know is that there are great web designers for every budget. If your budget is limited and you have big dreams, always remember that you can start small and build on your site as your business grows.
Know your needs and your wants
If you know what your competition is doing and what your budget is, you can really sit down and have a talk with yourself about what your functions website must have and what functions can wait. Ask yourself a lot of these questions. Is e-commerce a must right now, or can it wait until next season? Do you need a FAQ page or a blog or a video? There are pretty good chances that you don’t have to have every single item on your wish list and you can still have a killer website. Have big dreams and a realistic budget but allow a timeline that allows for growth.
Susan Sullivan
Susan lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area with her husband and children. She is an avid distance runner, environmentalist, part-time beekeeper, chicken farmer and amateur photographer.