e-ditorials - Issue #1: Start Off Right

Build a Successful Web Site: Look forward, look out and look back

For a minority of people, managing the company web site is their only job. For most people, it is a task among many other responsibilities. Whether you work on your own web site, have a web developer take care of it for you, or anywhere in between, there are three essential steps to follow for your site to be its very best:

• Look Forward: List and prioritize the benefits of having a web site
• Look Out: Learn to recognize and avoid the most common web site development pitfalls
• Look Back: Measure your site's performance and improve it regularly

Look Forward

Before you begin a new web site or redesign one you already have, you should make a list of what your current business goals are.

Do you want the site to generate more sales leads to increase profits by 20%?
Will the site support existing clients better than your toll-free telephone support?
Do you want to sell products online for global, 24/7 accessibility?

There will be people in your organization whose job will be affected by the web site project. Their opinion counts and you will want to keep them involved from the very beginning. They may not necessarily want to be involved in the final decision making process, but including them will go a long way in seeing the end result effects: productivity and satisfaction in their new roles as web site supporting staff. In the planning phase of your web site, determine who will be involved, what their responsibilities are, and who must give approval for each phase of site development.

Look at how your web site goals can be streamlined into your business plans and existing work flow. For instance, if a user fills out an information request form on the web site, what email address will this information be sent to? Do you have the capability to handle an increase in demand when it occurs? Perhaps you want the data to automatically go to a database. This will prove valuable when putting together direct mail or email campaigns, sales follow-ups, and customer support. And if you do send the data to an email address or a database, who will follow up and analyze this data?

If confidence is needed from supervisors or coworkers, your list of company goals, and how you plan to achieve them, will help justify your decisions. Be as specific and fact conscious as possible -- and respond without being emotional.

Look Out! Some possible pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Pitfall 1: Too many decision makers, unproductive planning meetings, mixed messages and goals.
Answer: Determine the one person who will have ultimate, final approval, and make your team aware. If your project team makes decisions as a panel, define a voting structure and make it stick. If the panel votes 5 to 5, who will be the tie breaker?

Pitfall 2: The project took much longer than anticipated.
Answer: Start the project with a schedule that itemizes each step of the web site process, the due date and who's responsible for each item. Make sure to include approvals in this timeline, and make those doing the approving aware of how they impact the project's schedule.

Pitfall 3: The project starts to become overwhelming with everyone's input. There are too many features and too little budget.
Answer: This often happens. We recommend a kickoff meeting where each person involved is able to participate in the creation of the web site goal list. List the goals in order of importance and then evaluate with your staff and/or your web site developer how long each goal will take and how much it will cost. Make a photocopy of your list and then use this to cross off goals that are on the bottom of the list until you reach a stable balance of time and cost and essential web site features. Keep your original list of goals for reference when you begin the next phase of web site changes or additions.

Pitfall 4: Office politics are getting in the way.
Answer: This can be the toughest pitfall because you are dealing with people and emotions, not hard figures, right? Wrong. For those that are feeling like they aren't being heard, allow them a voice but make sure they are aware that they must back up their opinion with concrete figures as to why their method is the way to go (or not to go). The more you can keep emotions out of the project, the better the end product will be. Remind those who are letting themselves be emotional to take a step back and explore why they are upset. Often, they are upset about not being heard or feeling as if they don't have control. They might be anxious at the thought of additional work, or new systems that confuse their regular routine. If you encounter this situation or know that this might happen, make sure you have a voting system as part of your web site approval process. Private voting will keep the decision less about individual people, and more about the process and company goals.

Pitfall 5: Everyone wants to be a designer
Answer: Schedule a design brainstorming meeting and include a preparation checklist for all attendees. For example, you may want people to bring examples of web sites they like, web site ideas they have thought of, designs they've sketched or content they think should be included. In this meeting, sketch the basic elements that should be on the site on paper (or something else you can reproduce). Conclude the meeting by stating whose responsibility it will be to design the site, or who will be the main contact that hires the web developer.

Look Back

Once the web site is up and running, look back frequently to make sure your new web site is meeting the goals it was intended to meet. Measure your site's performance and improve it regularly.

Budget for site review and revisions. Your in-house staff, web development freelancer or a web site development company should review the effectiveness of the site once it is being used by your target customer, and as you gather feedback from the customers as well. Web site statistics should be reviewed, and in-house operations should be evaluated. Pay particular attention to your customer service comments. If the focus of your web site stayed on track through development, then the final product should still meet your original goals. Trends in your company or the market may have changed or added to your list of goals, and should be adjusted for accordingly. If your goal was to increase sales, now is the time to document how you were successful. If you can prove a return on your web investment, then your phase two and phase three site upgrades will be gladly supported.

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