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The first step in getting your business online is to discuss your website plan with a SiteSuite consultant before working with one of our website designers to put the plan into action. This initial consultation and quote process is free and there is no obligation to buy a website. Call us on 1300 130 875 to arrange this.

See our Website Design Services page for more information about our website design experience, our website designers and developers and our clientele.


Website Design: 10 points to include in your plan

Good website design is about more than just appearances. Your business website must be tailored to your audience and goals, be functional, easy to use and be flexible enough to keep pace with new technology and the growth of your business. Below are some of the factors to consider when planning the design of a business website.

Website Design Plan

  1. Purpose

  2. Audience

  3. Return Visitors

  4. Structure

  5. Content Management

  6. Revenue

  7. Support

  8. Performance

  9. Search Engines

  10. The Future

 Website Design by SiteSuite for Clubs VIC

 

 

1. Design your website with a specific purpose in mind

To choose the features and functionality for your business website, you need to define clearly your customers' needs and the purpose of your website, thinking of both short-term and long-term goals. SiteSuite’s modular system means that you can add new features and functionality to your website as your business grows.

The answers to these questions should determine the design of your website:

  • What does your business do?
  • Who are your customers (and potential customers)?
  • What type of information and services do your customers want?
  • Could you deliver the information in a better way, or offer additional services?
  • What do your competitors offer via their websites?

A website is available to the public 24 hours, every day, so it can perform tasks for you when you are not available, including collecting contact details and answering some of your customers' most common queries. For example, if customers regularly ask for images of projects you have completed, you can refer them to the image gallery of your website, instead of sending large files via e-mail or printing images and brochures to send via fax or post.

Below is a short list of examples of the functions a website can perform.  Think of your customers and the purpose of your website to develop your own list of functions. We can provide a customised website design solution, so call us on 1300 130 875 to arrange a free consultation.

A website can

 

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2. Design your website for your audience

The first step in designing a business website is considering your purpose and audience; the next is delivering information to your audience in a way that is user-friendly. Our website designers consider a range of factors when developing the look of your site and will make suggestions based on your goals.

Not all of your website visitors will be viewing your website on large, high-resolution computer screens. We recommend designing your site so that it will be attractive and easy to read and navigate through, even on smaller, low-resolution screens. Similarly, we test our web designs in different web browsers (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Fire Fox, Apple Safari)  to ensure that your site will look good and work well for all of your clients.

When choosing special features for your web design, such as Flash animation and other multi-media software, you also need to take into account that some website visitors will be using slow Internet connections and may not have the latest multi-media software on their computers. Website visitors like to be in control of the experience when using a website. Speed and simplicity are important website design features. Another consideration is that search engine crawlers favour text over images and animations. Effective website design matches technology to the audience and balances functionality with attractive, interesting features.

 

3. Design your website to encourage customers to return

Updating your business site and incorporating interactive features into the website design encourages customers to return. You may wish to include features such as

 

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4. Design your website with clear structure and navigation

Your website visitors should be able to find the information that interests them easily and quickly. You need to break the information into smaller, clearly identified sections, with a hierarchy for headings and body text. Good website design and clearly structured content makes navigating through a site intuitive and efficient.

 

5. Design your website so that you can easily edit the content

Keeping your business website up-to-date and improving the content is important for attracting website visitors and search engines (e.g., Google).

  • How will you manage your site content?
  • Who will be responsible for this? What will you do if s/he leaves?
  • What is the quickest and most affordable way to manage your site content?
  • Who will provide support?
  • Will the software you plan to use allow you to add new features and functionality in the future?

These are some of the questions to consider when designing a business website. Many companies can design a website for you, but do not provide you with any tools for managing or updating the site. That means you have to contact the design studio, wait until they are available and pay for changes to the site. Unlike a print campaign, a website runs every day of the year and the content can and should be updated and refined regularly, without delay.

SiteSuite's content management system has been developed over a period of 10 years and has been designed to be easy to use, so that no technical skills are required. Being able to edit your website content yourself reduces your ongoing costs and ensures that your website is always up-to-date. Our websites are modular, so your website can grow with your business and you can add new functionality. We provide our content management system over the Internet, so you don’t have to install and maintain any software. We also provide ongoing support and training in using our content management system. If staff members leave your business, we will train new staff to update your website. See our Products and Services pages for more information on the benefits of having SiteSuite design your website.

If you would prefer to have us maintain the content of your site, we can do this for an hourly rate, or on a contract basis.

 

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6. Design your website to generate revenue

SiteSuite uses modular website design, so secure e-commerce functionality can be added to your business site at any stage. Planning the organisation of your product range and offering your clients choices of payment and shipping options will make it easier for your customers to make a purchase. Our  e-commerce websites are integrated with secure payment gateways, so your customers can complete payment with peace of mind. SiteSuite's e-commerce sites give you the ability to offer different payment options and to edit your product range, so you can hide products that are out of stock, add new products and delete obsolete ones.

If you are going to sell advertising space on your business website (for example, banner ads, directories, or Google Ad Sense), this can be incorporated into the website design to use space effectively, without detracting from the other features of your site. We can provide tools for banner advertising, promotions and sponsorship and searchable directories.

You may also wish to include a graphic e-mail newsletter as part of your marketing strategy and to reduce printing and advertising costs. SiteSuite's Newsletter Manager allows you to manage your subscriber list and send high-quality newsletters. We will match the design of your newsletter to your website, reinforcing your company and brand image.

For a free consultation to discuss your requirements and revenue options, please call us on 1300 130 875.

 

7. Design your website with support in mind

SiteSuite offers not just website design and development, but also ongoing technical support and training in using our website management tools. Support is provided as required and additional training can be undertaken by your new staff, at no extra cost. We have been in business for 10 years and continue to invest in research and development to refine our website management tools. You can feel comfortable that you have all the support that you need to keep your business website live and up-to-date.

 

8. Design your website so that you can track its performance

To measure your business website's performance and gather information for its ongoing development, you need effective website traffic statistics. All of SiteSuite's website design packages include statistics, including reports on the number of visitors to your site, the pages they are viewing, the sites referring visitors to yours, etc.

 

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9. Design your website to be search engine-friendly

There are a range of factors that affect a website's performance in the search engines (Google, Yahoo! Search, ninemsn Search, etc), which include

  • the changing methods used by the search engines to rank web pages
  • the willingness of your competitors to pay for online marketing and Search Engine Optimisation
  • the number of relevant, popular and established websites that have links leading to yours
  • the structure and text content of your website
  • your website's age
  • how often you update and refine your content.

SiteSuite designs all its business websites in accordance with accepted website optimisation principles and our content management system allows you to update and refine the content of your site, which is important for making your website search engine-friendly. For tips on improving your website content for the search engines, see our articles, Content Tips and Better Web Page Titles.

While we can make suggestions for techniques to make your website appealing to the search engines ('Search Engine Optimisation' or SEO), we recommend professional Search Engine Optimisation for your website. We have formed a partnership with Melbourne IT, a major web services company, to provide specialist Search Engine Optimisation services. Our sales and support teams are at hand to offer general advice.

 

10. Design your website to keep pace with technology

As we develop new volumes of our website management software, we make them available to all our clients, so your website keeps pace with technological developments. This saves you buying and installing website design and management software that will quickly become obsolete. Our modular website system also allows you to scale your website to meet the demands of your business.

 

Website Design Information

 

Website Design Services

Website Design: Frequently-Asked Questions

Website Design for Small Business

Website Design Clients

Website Design Glossary

 

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