Clients often know they want a new website but don’t know where to start. Here is a list of pointers and questions we like to work on with you when starting to plan out your website.

We like to begin by learning what you want in a website. Our first aim is to determine what the site’s supposed to do for your business and then what it will look like. Here is a long list of things to think about for your new website.

It’s good to first start thinking about the why…

– Why do you want to have a new website?
– What is it about your current site you want to change or what is the outcome if you don’t have a new website?

Then write down some details about yourself…

– How would you describe your organisation?
– Is there anything about you and your background that sets you apart (niche)?

Think about your customers and how you could reach them…

– How would you best describe your customers? Age, income, interests, gender, the type of computer or devices they’re likely to use, are they good with computers etc?
– Why do you believe site visitors should do business with you rather than with a competitor?
– What 3 or 4 searches would you ideally like to come up for when people Google, Bing etc?
– How would you reach your potential customers online and spread word to them about your business other than through search engines.

Who will be involved in this…

– Who are the decision makers on this project?
– What staff will you involve and what will their roles be with this?
– How much time will they be able to spend on your website?
– Who’s responsible for updating it or responsible for responding to customer enquiries?

Start planning your content…

– Where is the website content coming from?
– Is it ready in its current state to use?

Do some research and plan how you would like your website to look and what you would like your site to do for you…

– Find four or five other sites that you like and write down what things you like about them and why you like them?
– Who are your competitors and have you researched them online to see what you like or don’t like about what they’re doing online?
– Is there anything that you want your website to do for you to make your business easier. Or is there something you’d like to provide for your customers to benefit them?

It’s also a good idea to think about how much and when…

– What is your budget?
– What is your deadline for going live with the site?

Now is also a good idea to think about when you’re live how would you encourage repeat business and keep your website content fresh? Do you plan on having an ongoing budget for upkeep?

I’d recommend writing down your answers and ideas for these and give it to your web designer. For us here, it can really help with making sure we’re the right fit for you and provide us with ideas about the focus of the design and content of your site.

Please take a moment to consider us.…

We’re developers here and I appreciate you taking the time to read our post today. The rest is a plug for us so feel free to skip it if that’s not what you’re here for but we’d really appreciate it if you take the time to recommend us or consider us for your website.

After you’ve thought about the answers to the above and written them down. Consider the next step as talking to us.

Not only are we expert website designers and coders. We can host your site, configure your “domain”, set up professional email and we can give you that custom feel to your site. Therefore, if you want something that allows you to perform your trade with your customers online or via web app and it doesn’t commercially exist, we can build it for you.

For the next step, contact us today

Or call (NZ +64) 03 3770495

The post Want a New Website But Don’t Know Where to Start? appeared first on Christchurch Website Design | eCommerce Website Design.

Ok, it’s clickbait but what is CMS, why do we use it and could you DIY without a web designer?

CMS stands for Content Management System. Content as in all the content on your website, Management because it helps you manage the content and System because three letter acronyms (TLA’s) are better than two.

CMS are like MacOS or Windows for your website full of all the advanced useful features. The core feature of a CMS is that it gives you a private area within your website where you can add, change or remove content on your website with little expertise and it takes care of the behind the scenes stuff.

There are a lot of packages out there and a lot of choices and although some are more popular than others, some have advantages in their use over others. You may have heard of some already like WordPress which is by far the most popular covering a wide range of things you may need a website for.

Other systems however come with their slight differences and benefits and most can be modified to add the features of others. For instance, we like using OpenCart when it comes to Ecommerce and sending lots of product, customer and sales information back and forth with your sales software.

Why do we choose to use them? Simply, it’s cheaper and faster to develop, they provide you with security, more features and you, the owner, have more control with just a little training. CMS packages also allow you to plug in custom features you require that other people have developed such as advanced shipping charges.

So, could you do it yourself? With the advancement of these packages it’s getting easier and easier to do it yourself while the learning curve grows smaller and smaller. CMS makes DIY much easier and there are solutions dedicated to DIY.

Should you DIY? The decision is much the same as deciding to renovate your own home. New Zealand is all about small business and start ups and we often don’t have the option to pay others to do things. Sometimes, we must dig in, do extra hours and get the job done ourselves.

If you are on the fence, taking your own time into factor, experts aren’t always more expensive, often provide a better, faster result and there is a lot more to the process than just building a website. It’s not easy to weigh up the benefit and cost reward of doing it yourself and it’s hard to foresee missed opportunity because something about your site is turning customers away.

So in conclusion, CMS gives you a variety of tools to make a better website, faster and gives you easy control to do things yourself without us. The role of the Web Designer is as necessary if not more as it was when websites were made from scratch and through the use of CMS, we give you a better product cheaper.

Recommended CMS packages:

OpenCart – A great eCommerce package with an active community and regular updates

WordPress – Originally developed for blogs but has advanced to being great all round package for handling just about any type of website.

Joomla – A great alternative to WordPress with an excellent framework and features. Not as popular but that is sometimes a good thing especially when it comes to security.

Other notable mention’s: shopify, drupal, magento, PrestaShop

Please take a moment to consider us.…

We’re developers here and I appreciate you taking the time to read our post today. The rest is a plug for us so feel free to skip it if that’s not what you’re here for but we’d really appreciate it if you take the time to recommend us or consider us for your website.

As experts, we’ve made the mistakes, discovered the issues and know the tricks. We’re a team of software coders, designers, thinkers and just in general all-round web technology experts. If something isn’t working right in the code, or style and design we have the skill to fix it or change it.

We can host your site, configure your “domain”, set up professional email and we can give you that custom feel to your site. Therefore, if you want something that allows you to perform your trade with your customers online or via web app and it doesn’t commercially exist, we can build it for you.

However, we’re also here for the DIYers. If you’re stuck on something, need something tweaked or just a bit of help without judgement and you’re happy to get in an expert then we’re more than happy to jump in and do what is required.

For whatever your need, contact us today

+64 3 3770495

The post CMS… The one thing Web Designers don’t want you to know about!?! appeared first on Christchurch Website Design | eCommerce Website Design.