Shepherd Interactive

For most things in life, “third time’s a charm” will do quite nicely. However, when it comes to launching a new website, your company will be much better off if you get it right the first time.
A website is often the first contact a customer has with a firm and its products. The online experience has to be able to reach out and grab the user, be meaningful, memorable, and provide efficient access to information. Accomplishing all of these at once, as well as managing the technological issues, can be a daunting task. But with careful planning and a little foresight, your website can be a powerful marketing tool that won’t give you headaches down the road.

When developing your site, you’ll need to plan on three different fronts:

• Design: Is it eye-catching and appealing? Does it reflect your brand and add to the overall impact of the site?
• Information Architecture & Navigation: Can users find information easily and quickly? Does the site provide all the necessary information and is it arranged logically? Is the content fresh, interesting, and engaging?
• Technical: Can the user upload the site in a reasonable amount of time? Is the site search engine-friendly? Is the site compatible with most browsers? Is the code structured to make it easy to update?

Approaching your project with an eye toward each of these perspectives will put you ahead of the game as you develop your website. By covering all the angles, you can not only avoid future glitches but also present a more comprehensive and seamless experience for your clients.

Design

Design may not be the core focus of your website, but it does provide the context in which users view and absorb your information. Not only do you want your design to appeal to your audience, but you want it to contribute to the overall effectiveness of your brand strategy. Following are a few key things to keep in mind:

• Keep it simple: An overload of imagery is not only overwhelming to the eye, but can also cause a frustrating slowdown in upload time. Consider that your user is likely busy, distracted, and anxious to find what they need. Keep your design functional.
• Design for the screen: Screen design is different from print design. Make sure you are considering how your design will appear when users adjust the size of their windows. Keep your fonts easy to read and avoid patterns that distract the eye.
• Standout graphics: A single standout image or graphic can serve as a hook or anchor for visitors, making your site instantly memorable. By repeating or echoing the image throughout the pages, you may have more flexibility with other design elements while still maintaining a common thread.

Information Architecture and Navigation

This is the core of your website and should be well thought out and carefully planned. Create a primary menu with major sections of the website and keep that menu the same throughout the site. Sub-menus can help keep your site uncongested. Here are more tips:

• Tier your information: Web surfers skim through information; keep your sentences and paragraphs short and compartmentalize information as much as possible. Headings, subheads, bylines, and bullets will make it easy for readers to scan through to the information they need. Watch out for overly cleverly-worded titles; your headings and subheads should be meaningful enough to help users accurately identify sections before they have to read in-depth information.

• Perform the click test: Have several people look for specific information on the site and find out how many clicks of the mouse it takes to get there. If it’s more than three or four (or takes longer than 15-30 seconds), you might need to rethink the navigation.

Technical

You want your website coding to be as strategically planned and organized as your web content. This will make future updates and enhancements simpler and more cost effective. Following are some factors you’ll want to incorporate as you construct your site:

• Search engine optimization: To be a powerful marketing tool, you want your website at the top of the list in searches. If it was easy everyone would be at the top, so plan for an ongoing strategy to ensure your marketing goals are met.

• Compatibility with various browsers: Your website needs to be coded so that it is compatible with a variety of web browsers. You want your images and text to appear correctly whether your customer is using Safari or Explorer!
• Information generation: A variety of analytical tools can help you generate information about the customers who visit your website. Take advantage of the opportunity to strategically gather information and use this data to align your efforts.

Learning from our mistakes is important, but in web development, it may be better to learn from others’ mistakes. Don’t hesitate to seek professional assistance in any area of web development in which you feel less than confident: in the long run, you will be glad that you did it right the first time.