TTa Cruver
By: TTa Cruver – Bayshore Solutions Project Manager
Throughout my professional career in online marketing, a common question potential customers ask is, “How much does it cost for a website?” This is a fair question but practically impossible to answer without basic requirements and let me explain why. Would you walk up to a car dealership and ask the sales man, “How much for a car?” or would you walk up to a home builder and ask, “How much for a house?” In all scenarios the response is, “It depends, what would you like?” With websites, the response is no different.
Think of a new website as building your own home, with initial planning establishing the floor plan. Ask yourself basic structural questions such as: What is the purpose of this website? Is it to sell a product? Is it to get the business name out there? What will the website do? Will you be able to sign up for a newsletter? Will you be able to login to the website to access private information? These questions are the initial planning every successful website project goes through. The answers to these questions establishes the websites basic requirements, which is the start of the floor plan to your dream home.
To ensure your dream home comes out as desired, you want to think your floor plan through and go as far as you can to establish basic requirements. Don’t stop with the ground floor; continue up to the second and third floors of your floor plan. Take initial planning a step further by looking at how the website will fit in with your business, support the business and most importantly, help it grow.
An initial look at what the website will do, how it will work and the benefits it will bring the business are key elements to understand when beginning a new website project. Initial planning through Q&A produces the basic requirements which are key to a successful website project and getting started. Start your website planning today by contacting Bayshore Solutions!
TTa Cruver is a Project Manager at Bayshore Solutions—a Web Design, Web Development, and Digital Marketing Company.