Petrified. That’s how some people feel when they think about their new website. Even thinking about revamping an existing site can be overwhelming. What if I do the wrong thing? There are so many choices how do I know what to do? Where do I start?
Here are some guiding principles that will help start your project moving forward.
- Websites are a work in progress. Websites are designed to be easy to change. You can change colors, photos, text and website hosts. You can add newsletters, shopping carts and photo sideshows. Sites grow and change as your goals change. Understanding this concept will help you realize that it’s OK to try something out and change it later if it doesn’t work. You don’t have to worry that you’re missing something. If you think of a feature that you’d like to add later, you can have it added later.
- Focus on your goals. A website should support you in meeting your business and personal goals. When you’re contemplating adding features to your website ask yourself how those features will help you meet your goals. If it doesn’t help you achieve your goals then you don’t really need it.Are you concerned that you’re not familiar enough with website development to know what features to ask for? Then just tell your website developer your business goals. Ask your developer how they can help you.
- Think in phases. If you have a large wish list of changes for your website try to break them down into groups or phases. You don’t need to do everything at once. One of my customers needed their website totally revamped. One year we updated the website design. The next year we updated the website software. The customer was able to make progress at a pace and annual budget that worked for them.
- Trust Yourself. I’m sure you have favorite websites. You like some features and not others. You like some layouts and not others. Since your website will be a reflection of you all of these preferences are important information. They give you a place to start.
You can do this. You really can. Just take it one step at a time and your website will start to come together.
