Hi,

I'm starting a company with my associate and we're currently in the process of starting to plan our site. Due to budget constraints we will be doing web development and most of the marketing ourselves. Web design will be outsourced to 99designs, just like we did for our logo which is the only thing completed as of now.

 

However we need to involve someone now at an early stage of planning to make sure we are aiming correctly in terms on SEO, content, etc. We also need some guidance setting up our marketing strategy and a partner for that. We will take our site plan together with our requirements and wireframes further in discussions with that partner.

 

Note that the site will initially be small and only host around 10 pages, but it is vital that the site will be good and appreciated by our customers.

 

Any pointers from the forum as to how we be approach our site planning?

 

Thanks

 

Johan Larsson

www.checkinservices.se

Welcome to the forums.

 

Your planning needs to revolve around one thing: your customers

 

For most sites customers want to complete one or more tasks, such as finding product/service information, making a purchase or contacting you. The key to success is making this as easy as possible by providing clear task based navigation, and offering relevant and useful information.

 

I would recommend getting your content prepared first. Consider what types of media you may use (if any) such as images, video/audio as these will need to be accounted for in your wireframes and design.

 

"Content first" is the way to go!

Welcome to the forums.

 

Your planning needs to revolve around one thing: your customers

 

For most sites customers want to complete one or more tasks, such as finding product/service information, making a purchase or contacting you. The key to success is making this as easy as possible by providing clear task based navigation, and offering relevant and useful information.

 

I would recommend getting your content prepared first. Consider what types of media you may use (if any) such as images, video/audio as these will need to be accounted for in your wireframes and design.

 

"Content first" is the way to go!

Thanks for your input. Good idea, will create content first. Another thing I read about web site planning is that you should not try to primarily design based on what your customers want but rather snap on to and understand their purchasing process. How could I go about doing that? Our services are cleaning, key exchange and laundry services for private hosts that rent out their accommodation in the short term.

Edited March 18, 201412 yr by lajo

Thanks for your input. Good idea, will create content first. Another thing I read about web site planning is that you should not try to primarily design based on what your customers want but rather snap on to and understand their purchasing process. How could I go about doing that? Our services are cleaning, key exchange and laundry services for private hosts that rent out their accommodation in the short term.

 

Hi - I'd assume the agency you are outsourcing the design to will have a reasonable understanding of what your site should look like, and why, in order to effectively portray your services and expertise.

Edited March 19, 201412 yr by jakdothtml

We were thinking about 99designs.com, but perhaps we'd be better off letting the same company help us with content, strategy and design? That unless we are very clear in our wireframes, etc.. using 99 designs there is a risk that things might be lost in translation both due to cultural differences but also due to that its a different company. 99 designs, however, are price worthy and the designer I worked with made a brilliant job..

For 99designs I have to say, as a competitor, I only join the high paid guaranteed contests. Even then, I only join contests that require as little work as possible, and allows me to use past logos that didn't make the cut. That's why nobody followed your brief. Chances are, they were just sending you recycled logos. Hey, we're not stupid. We're not going to custom design a logo for you with the chance that you'll not pay anyone and steal our ideas. The IDEA is what makes your logo awesome and memorable, not so much the design.

Edited March 19, 201412 yr by proweb365

For 99designs I have to say, as a competitor, I only join the high paid guaranteed contests. Even then, I only join contests that require as little work as possible, and allows me to use past logos that didn't make the cut. That's why nobody followed your brief. Chances are, they were just sending you recycled logos. Hey, we're not stupid. We're not going to custom design a logo for you with the chance that you'll not pay anyone and steal our ideas. The IDEA is what makes your logo awesome and memorable, not so much the design.

That was actually was I was afraid of that it would be too much of a risk to hire them to do my web design.... Even though you are a competitor I still actually think it might be a problem to communicate what I actually want and in this case I'd prefer a marketing strategy partner locally here in Sweden. Perhaps the same for the designer..

 

Regarding my other questions, about how to learn more about understanding customer purchasing proccesses and the art of content marketing, do any of you have any info and/or links?

 

Thanks for your input. Good idea, will create content first. Another thing I read about web site planning is that you should not try to primarily design based on what your customers want but rather snap on to and understand their purchasing process. How could I go about doing that? Our services are cleaning, key exchange and laundry services for private hosts that rent out their accommodation in the short term.

 

So your site will offer cleaning/laundry services for landlords?

 

If that's the case try putting yourself in the position of a landlord looking for those services, they will probably want to know a few key things:

 

1. How much does it cost?

2. Are there any hidden charges, or caveats?

3. Do you serve my area?

4. Do you offer a guarantee, what if things go wrong?

5. Can anyone vouch for your service? (testimonials)

6. How do I contact you?

7. Can I trust you?

 

...you get the idea. The key is to offer the right information, your objective is probably to generate sales enquiries, so your content and site should be geared up to do just that.

Velkommen til WDF Lajo.

You say that due to budget constraints you're not going to spend money on web development and marketing. I dont know what type of business you are running but you might want to rethink the budget. Saving money on a website (or any software solution) is something you will always regret later.

Velkommen til WDF Lajo.

You say that due to budget constraints you're not going to spend money on web development and marketing. I dont know what type of business you are running but you might want to rethink the budget. Saving money on a website (or any software solution) is something you will always regret later.

Tak Niller. Of course we have a budget for this, but it is slim. I'm a good developer, but not a front end web designer. This way we will save money on some of the development and only outsource the actual design. We will carry out our marketing plan ourselves which we are going to seek assistance to develop.

 

Question is just how much cash we should set aside for seeking assistance with web design, marketing strategy and content building and who to help us with this..

Edited March 19, 201412 yr by lajo

Fair enough. As a developer you must know a thing or two about UI design. So the the visual identity and communication aspect is what you are missing I guess?

Edited March 19, 201412 yr by Nillervision

Fair enough. As a developer you must know a thing or two about UI design. So the the visual identity and communication aspect is what you are missing I guess?

Correct. Question is what a budget of say 4000 EUR would do??

4000EUR equates to about £3300 - if it's a straightforward brochure site you may want to budget something like 1k-2k EUR for design and build, then whatever you have left allocate to copy writing and marketing.

 

If this were my project I would look at getting the site built, and good content copy in place first - good copy is the thing that will sell your services so that's important, and for the most part, if you structure your site well and the copy is right half the "SEO" will be already done!

 

Once you have a working site, customer focussed text copy and clear call to actions then you can look at marketing. Now, marketing is an ongoing thing so you could allocate a monthly/annual budget for it, then use each months budget to test different avenues. You can do a lot of marketing yourself via social media (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin), possibly run a blog if you can write regularly.