Modern websites and webpages can be incredibly complex. It is worth knowing exactly what you want to achieve before you start getting quotes. In general, web sites are used to contribute to these business goals.
• The web site creates publicity for the business and get more customer enquiries (mainly through natural search engine results)
• The web site supports advertising in attracting more customer enquiries (internet and traditional advertising)
• The web site makes a strong first impression on potential customers, which leads to greater sales
• The web site makes a first pitch to customers and prompt them to phone or email an enquiry to you
• The web site fully supports all the pre-sales customer services, with technical and pricing information
• The web site gets direct sales over the internet (e-commerce)
o Some web sites gather payment details for manual processing
o Other web sites automatically process the payment before confirming the sale
• Business use the web site to provide after-sales support (such as instructions, warranties, support contact, etc.)
• Businesses get repeat sales by providing useful information to current customers using the web site
• Groups communicate and educate the general public (especially for non-profits, political groups, community groups, etc.) using a web site
• Membership Programs provide communication services for members (especially sporting clubs, social clubs and those charities and businesses that run membership based programs) using a web site
o Member to member communications over the web site
o Enterprise to member communications over the web site
A good web site design and development company will be able to translate these goals into a set of requirements and features for your project. Some specialized web site development companies will have already developed web site applications to achieve these business goals at an affordable price.
