A quick Google search for "web design", "web designer" or "web development" will return literally thousands of pages. The Internet industry has no shortage of players - both big and small - who are very enthusiastic about offering "website design packages" for your business. "Get a 3 page site for $x!", or "10 pages and a free email account for $x". The prices vary but the approach is the same. You arbitrarily decide how many pages you want and they'll give you a site to match (some even make you design it yourself). This pricing model sounds invitingly simple and certainly works well when buying a pizza, but it's no way to shop for an important business service.

Just a few years ago it wasn't uncommon for a business website to be little more than an online brochure, and these bought-by-the-page website designs are just that. Granted, today's modern web browsers allow for far more graphically rich layouts, but in the end you still have an online brochure. It may succeed at giving prospects some information about your company (assuming they can find your site to begin with), but it won't do much for your bottom line.

Today, Internet technologies are far more advanced and offer virtually unlimited potential for companies of all sizes looking to grow and prosper. Instead of static info-pages, businesses are using the Web to communicate more effectively with their customers, share secure documents and files with vendors, train their employees and of course, sell products and services. Many traditional business functions can now be managed more easily and with greater cost efficiency online, and with lower operating costs comes increased profitability.

Our years of experience in this industry have shown that an effective, profitable, sound Internet Solution is the result of careful planning, informed development, strategic implementation with exisiting systems and ongoing support. There are countless companies in the marketplace that are capable of building you a website, but if you're truly serious about an integrated business solution and online success for your business then you deserve our total-service approach. Our Internet Solutions Success Plan is a proven development plan that has produced hundreds of successful Internet Solutions for businesses of all types and sizes since 1994.

Did your website developer build your web site using a proven strategy?

A CMS (content management system) can significantly simplify the process of editing your website. With CMS, you create and edit web pages online (inside your browser window), just as if you were editing a document in a word processor or a desktop publishing program.

Build CMS into your website from the very beginning or discuss your CMS options with your website developer. Adding it later can be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

A website with purpose has significantly more impact than one without it, so the first step is to define its purpose. Is the site intended to inform and educate, sell products or services, raise your company’s profile, build community or something else? Think of purpose this way: Assuming your website is successful, what will it have accomplished?

To ensure your website furthers its purpose, develop a plan in the form of an RFP (request for proposal). The RFP describes each area of your future site, how it works and what end it serves. Ideally, your RFP should address at least the following:

    * Website purpose
    * Target audiences
    * Design considerations
    * Navigation
    * User or account login requirements
    * Audio/visual elements
    * e-commerce, if necessary
    * Search engine optimization requirements
    * Hosting and maintenance
    * Not-to-exceed cost
    * Development schedule with deadlines and launch date
    * Management structure

With RFP in hand, you’re now well-prepared to start building your website internally--if you have the expertise and resources--or solicit bids from website developers. Either way, your RFP will enable you to manage the project more effectively and ensure the site conforms to your vision.

We’re often asked how to effectively rebrand an existing website. The biggest—and most common—oversight we see is that organizations begin their redesign without clear goals for the initiative. Most sites are redesigned for purely cosmetic reasons, overlooking the more crucial areas, and those that visitors actually interact with: content, site navigation, page layout, and of course search engine optimization. After all, your site has to be found, right?

Following are seven steps that can help ensure that the site you design today will be an effective investment for years to come.

1. Start with a plan. A properly executed wireframe—like a blueprint in architecture—shows you how the new Web site will function. Like building a house where it is far easier to move a wall’s placement during the planning stage than an actual wall during the construction phase, the same is true when designing a website's structure.
2. Don’t be sidetracked by the latest fads in gadgetry. A Web site that is well-thought-out and easily navigable will always outperform one that features the latest wiz-bang Flash element in the long run. Flash or other technological features should be integrated only if they serve the needs of the site's audience.
3. Get buy-in from all team members. If you fail to get buy-in from Ted in your accounting department, be prepared for Ted to unravel your plan in the eleven hour. Anyone worth getting feedback from should be involved during the planning stage.
4. Seek advice from people who will use your site. Seek feedback from clients about what is and is not working on your existing site. You can contact them by phone for a quick interview or prepare a web form that you email an invitation to them to visit and complete. Offer a drawing for all who complete the form for tickets to a movie … whatever it takes. You should hear what the people who use the site are saying.
5. Relavancy and freshness. Pull feeds from your blog into your home page and designate areas that can be updated often with news. Give visitors a reason to visit often or RSS your feeds.
6. Get top ranking on Google. Popular sites make effective use of search engine optimization practices.This vital component of any successful site is something that should be planned from the outset.
7. Hire a professional. Since your Web site will likely be your most important marketing tool, you should find the most qualified team to lead this initiative. The best way to evaluate various teams’ work is to review their sites and speak to their clients.

Following these steps will ensure that your investment of time and money is successful, generating traffic to your site and delivering valuable content to your audience.