It seems like just about every business out there is putting up a Web
site these days. If you haven't got one yet, or if you've already got one and aren't
really maybe satisfied with it, then you should take a look at the five basic steps that
it takes to put a great Web site up. Here they are.
- Define Your Business Objective
- Design the Site
- Develop the Site
- Deploy the Site
- Do it Over
Define Your Business Objective
This should be the first step for any business undertaking, but it's especially
important when we're talking about a Web site. That's because people seem to be putting up
Web sites because it's "cool" or because other people are doing it. Those are
bad reasons.
The only reason you want to put up a Web site for your business is because it helps you
meet a strategic objective. It should either help you increase revenue, or decrease
expenses, or make your other operations more effective or do some combination of those
three things.
In my research I've identified six basic ways that people reach those strategic
objectives. Those are the six basic models for enhancing profits online. Most effective
businesses don't use just one, but use them in combination for maximum effect.
The basic models are direct sales; subscriptions or memberships; advertising; net
related services; cost cutting; and enhancing other operations.
You should define your business objective in terms of what you want to accomplish,
increasing revenue, decreasing expenses, or enhancing other operations and in terms of one
of these six basic business models. Now once you've done that, you're ready to move on to
the next step.
Design the Site
The next step in putting up a great Web site is to design the site. This isn't writing
the code for the pages, it's determining what information and other factors are going to
be there and how they're going to be linked. The power of the Web is its links. Done
properly, a good Web site can help people move through information in a way that's
natural, comfortable, and effective. For that to happen, you've got to spend some time
defining how that information will work and what information will be linked.
There's two basic ways to approach this design problem. I call these the outside-in and
the inside-out methods.
The inside-out method is the most common way to design a Web site. Here you begin with
your company name or purpose, and move outward through what you do, your products or
services, their features, their benefits, etc.
The outside-in method is a little different. Here you begin with what customers look
for when they contact you initially. Ask yourself, or your sales force, what question do
they ask? Ask, what do they want to know? Ask, what problem are they trying to solve or
what opportunity are they trying to seize?
Once you've got that then move on to what information will they need to help make that
decision. And then ask yourself how can we help them do that?
When you're doing this kind of site design, it should be done in graphical form.
Outlines are not effective here because the Web is inherently a non-linear medium and
outlines are linear.
I also don't like the standard "tree" diagrams that I see many Web site
designers use. That too is a linear form that doesn't work especially well in designing in
a non-linear medium.
The tool that I've found most effective for both inside-out and outside-in design is
mind mapping. This is a tool that was originally developed by the British educator Tony
Buzan.
It was originally designed as a way to organize information for a presentation or
capture and organize information when taking notes that's similar to the way the brain
works. Mind mapping uses graphics and key words which your brain finds a natural way to
hook lots of information to. It links items on a page in a graphical form similar to the
way that your mind links items as you jump from one concept to another.
You can find out about mind mapping in books by Tony Buzan or in the book "Mind
Mapping" by Joyce Wycoff.
In addition, there is a great mind mapping computer program that you'll find effective
for designing Web sites as well. It's called inspiration.
While you're doing the inside-out and outside-in site designs, you should also be
looking at other Web sites to see what kinds of good ideas you can pick up. Very often
seeing what other people are doing will spark an idea for you. You should also be checking
out your competition's Web sites to see what they're doing and what you'll have to do to
compete with them.
I've found that after you've done a bit of the inside-out and outside-in design,
suddenly they start to merge. When that happens, you should have an idea of how your site
will work. The result should be a graphical, non-linear site plan.
Develop the Site
Now you're ready to develop the site itself. This is where you put together the actual
pages and links and see how things work.
Start with a mock site. This is a site that you build on a hard drive somewhere, but
not on the net. You build your site here because it's easier to work with and because you
won't have any of the problems that go with Net connections.
Once things work on the mock site, you're ready for your beta test. This is where you
put your Web site out on the Web and see how it works there. You won't want to be
publicizing it just yet, just testing what's there. Just be ready in case people come
across your site and want more information.
You'll find a couple of things are different when you move from your computer to the
Web with your Web site. The first and most obvious is that things will slow down
dramatically. They will also become less reliable. That's just the way the Net is.
When you put stuff out for your beta test, be sure to test it in lots of different
ways. Test your site by visiting it at various times of day and with various kinds of Web
browsers. Be sure to test your site with the Netscape browser which is the single most
popular browser people are using to get to the Web. But also check it with the browsers
from the commercial gateways like CompuServe and America Online and with a variety of
other browsers to see how things look.
Be sure to check your site with different monitors. Things can look very different on
different sized monitors and on systems with different color palettes. One problem that
I've seen many sites have comes from the fact that most designers use different equipment
than the people who access Web sites.
Usually a designer will have a really good computer system with a large monitor and an
extensive color palette. Things will look different there than they will on a laptop using
a dual scan color screen and a limited color palette. Your site needs to look good for
just about every kind of equipment which will access it.
And don't forget to check with both Mac and PC-type browsers. There are often
differences there as well.
While you're running your beta text, in fact even before your site goes out on the Web
to be tested, you should be doing the things that get your site ready for prime time. You
should be preparing your roll out strategy as well as looking at how your site will be
integrated with your other marketing and business materials and strategies.
Deploy the Site
This is where you roll out the site and present it to the general public. There are
several things you need to do to make sure that the roll out is as effective as it can be
and that your site helps it as much as it can.
Start by making sure that your Web site and your other materials work together. Put
your URL on all collateral materials including stationery, business cards, brochures, etc.
You may want to have special announcement postcards sent out when you're ready to take the
site public.
Prepare a news release for the trade press and to send to your key clients, prospects,
and friends. This will help them find out about your Web site so they can use it. Don't
forget to put up notices in appropriate newsgroups and forums where people who are both
online and in the groups that you want to reach congregate.
You should also have a plan for your sales force or anyone in your organization who
makes direct contact with buyers to tell people about your new Web site. Prepare a simple
announcement flyer. Have your sales force use the new Web site as the focus of a sales
call.
When they make the call, have them show the purchasing agent or buyer the new Web site
on the agent or buyers machine. Then ask if you can add your Web site to their hotlist or
bookmark file. The answer is almost always yes.
You should be preparing your deployment steps almost from the beginning of the time
that you start designing your site. As soon as you have your URL, be sure to register your
site with all of the popular search utilities. Look at your site design and consider
registering all of the pages that are likely to be primary contact points for your
customers, prospects, and friends. Don't just register the page with your basic corporate
information, what many people call the "home page."
At this point your site should be well tested, well publicized, and working for you.
But the job's not done yet.
Do it Over
Hey, I'm not implying that you should immediately start to redo your site. But I've
found that the businesses that get the most out of their sites are the ones that are
constantly improving them. That involves both regular updates and some redesigns.
Your site design should include some changing material to help bring people back. In
addition, you will probably want to update any changing information on a regular basis.
When you've had your site up for three or four months, take a look at it again with a
fresh eye. Think about the kinds of things you'd like to do different. Review the reports
you're getting from the people who manage your Web site. Review the results you're getting
compared to your original business objectives.
I've found that many people need or want to do some major changes to their Web site
after it's been up for three or four months.
I don't recommend making changes much earlier than that. Usually, three or four months
is enough time to get a good sense of how things work and to let your publicity campaign
kick in. Also, things are fresh enough for you and for others that you'll get a good,
fresh impression of what kinds of things could be changed.
When you're ready to change it's time to go back to step one again. Look at your
business objectives, decide how you're going to measure your achievement and work through
the process again. This time it will go faster.
The process of putting up a great Web site is fairly simple. But there are lots of
little steps and you do need to pay attention.
- Start with a solid business objective.
- Design the site based on how people will use it and how they will link information in
their head. Use both outside-in and inside-out methods and develop a graphical site plan.
- Develop the site using the best design methods you have available.
- Make sure that your site is well publicized, especially among your primary audience.
- And, constantly redesign, update, and modify your site to make it more effective.
Created/Revised/Reviewed: 12/31/00
Reviewed: 2/15/03
The basics still hold. We accomplish some of the tasks differently and we promote with different emphasis now, but this outline is still good.
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