Any owner of a small or budding business will tell you that there is a lot on the table that you have to deal with. You are constantly assessing where your business really stands financially. You have to analyse your resources, dangers, profit and loss. Deal with staff, accountants, clients and family, and all this while trying to drum up new business for the long term.

Now you want a website. Not only do you want one, but it must be professional. All or nothing, your business doesn’t do things half hearted. As a small business, without being too web savvy, it can be difficult to find a web designer / developer who can take on the load of a professional website without needing too much direction.

So, when choosing a designer it is import to consider what it is you need and how much freedom creatively you intend to allow them. Most businesses require an end to end service from website conception down. Some already have a site but simply require a redesign to remain competitive or to add new functionality to the site. Not everybody wants the added stress of developing a website; you may want to just oversee developments behind the scenes.

If your business wants to take the next step to online media then consider what it is you need.

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Websites can be looked at from many angles. If you ask the opinion of a designer, a coder and a marketer what they think about any given website, they will each offer you a different perspective; and for good reason too. They would question their area of expertise, mulling over aspects of the site that the others could probably even consider irrelevant.

These views are of course important, and it is equally important that each area is implemented well, but as a site owner, what you should focus on is usability. As that is the area of expertise for the end user.

If you consider the reasons an individual would visit a site it is always to serve a function. This function usually revolves around two things, getting information, and purchasing products. There are others such as online games social networking etc, but I’m thinking in terms of simplicity for a small business.

Of course this means that in for any website, the core content is king. And some people will definitely be aware, that a site without a solid foundation of content will not attract hits no matter how much you tart it up.

I’d like you to think about this. How many times have you heard someone say that they just don’t like the ‘feel’ of a site? That something just ‘isn’t quite right’. It’s just a bit ‘clunky’ or makes them ‘feel restless’.
As a web designer I get these calls often from friends about sites they have stumbled across. The funny thing is that the design of a site in all probability has nothing to do with the services offered by that site. It is, of course, merely the look and feel that the designer chose to use at the time of creation. But, it could be the turning point when a potential customer is considering using the services, or buying a perfectly good product!

A good design will reap benefits in terms of user experience and when retaining the user for a subscription, sign-up, purchase or whatever. It makes the user feel comfortable. This is achieved by using an eye catching design which is consistent with the content.

Information should be laid out clearly in an easy to read manner in a way which suits everyone you regard to be in your target market.

Your site shouldn’t look like every other site because your business isn’t like every other business. It should reflect the uniqueness of your services.

Good design is easy on the eye. Great design conveys a message. That message should be along the lines of, ‘we are different’, ‘we are professional’ or ‘we deliver such and such a service’. The message must match up with the content, which must match up with the business. A colourful theme for a children’s site, and a classier style for that of a lawyer.

Think about any site you have visited over the period of a few years. They have most likely undergone some kind of redesign. IGN springs to mind. This is not necessarily because their message has changed, they still concentrate on games, but more likely due to a need to refresh the message so it stays modern and relevant to their core audience.

The aim is to create an impression in the users mind which lasts, consider this when giving your site a makeover and you could be on to something great.

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