The most challenging part of building a Web site is not so much the nuts and bolts of development; it’s the planning and conceptualization. Before any actual designing and development can take place, you need to define your Web site’s main purpose, what message you wish to convey, and how this message will be conveyed.
You will also need to have a firm understanding of your core audience, and cater to its needs and style. A graphic design firm’s Web site, for example, shouldn’t look like a financial institution’s Web site because they convey different messages to different audiences. The design concept for the former must project a creative and hip style whereas the latter must convey trust and security.
No one can tell you your Web site concept. This is something you need to determine on your own. Although there are many business- and industry-specific factors that contribute to a Web site concept, most are based on your: Business’s brand identity, Industry type, Target audience, Web site’s purpose, Web site goals, Online expectations and Long-term business goals.
Are You Redesigning an Existing Site?
Web sites, like everything else, have a life cycle. Sometimes they need to be updated, and sometimes they need to be redesigned entirely. Whatever the case may be, you must understand
your motivation for doing it. Are you looking to change some design elements to freshen up an outdated design? Are you updating the entire site to reflect a new brand identity? Or are you redesigning your site for the sake of redesigning it? Web site redesign projects must be purpose driven. They shouldn’t be done simply because you’re bored with your site and have nothing else better to do. Your redesign must contribute something to your business and, more importantly, to your audience. Doing it for the sake of doing it shows lack of focus and commitment on your part. And although users may appreciate a new design every few years, it can be disorienting to encounter a drastically different design too often during a short period of time.
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Representing Your Brand Identity
Every business projects an image, or a brand identity. Millions of dollars are spent creating these brands. They can be represented by logos (e.g,. McDonald’s golden arches, Nike’s swoosh, Apple’s bitten apple), mascots (e.g., the Energizer Bunny, the GEICO Gecko, the Pillsbury Doughboy), slogans, or catch phrases (e.g., Nike’s “Just do it,” Mastercard’s “Priceless,” Verizon’s “Can you hear me now?”), personal brands (e.g., Martha, Oprah, Trump), or a combination of all these. What a business does and how it treats its clients and customers also contributes to its brand identity.
Brands are used to promote a business in various forms of media, from TV and radio ads to business cards and letterheads to brochures and posters — and of course, Web sites. But a branded Web site must go beyond sticking a company logo on a Web page.
Web sites differ from other forms of promotion. They require the Web developer to understand not only how audiences interpret visual content such as a hard copy brochure, but also how audiences interact with multimedia content. The advent of blogs and other Web 2.0 technologies over the last several years have given businesses even more creative and interactive ways of promoting brand identity.
Although Web sites provide innumerable possibilities, your business must already have an established brand. You should never undertake a Web design or redesign project if your business is undergoing an identity crisis, or if you haven’t yet determined how you want your business to be represented. Trying to figure out your brand identity and your Web site at the same time can cause further confusion.
"Before any actual designing and development can take place, you need to define your Web site’s main purpose, what message you wish to convey, and how this message will be conveyed."
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Choosing an Effective Domain Name
The domain name plays a very important role in the establishment of your business’s online brand identity. It’s important to consider how your domain name will be interpreted not in print, but in speech. In print, there’s very little possibility for error because the domain is spelled out. But when you’re trying to give someone your Web site address verbally — such as when you’re speaking with someone on the telephone and don’t have the luxury of handing them your business card — there’s far too much room for interpretation. So before you register your domain name, keep the following tips in mind.
- 1.For businesses, a .com top-level domain (TLD) is a must. Even if you have a .biz, .net, or .org TLD, people will always associate an e-mail or Web site address with a .com.
- If someone else has already registered your desired .com domain name, try to avoid settling for an equivalent domain with a different TLD — for example, settling for acmeinc.net because someone else already registered acmeinc.com. When you verbally express your Web site or e-mail address to someone who doesn’t happen to be sitting in front of a computer, they will most likely type acmeinc.com when they get back to their computer and get someone else. While this might not be a big deal with Web sites, it may pose a problem with e-mail addresses—especially if the .com owner has an e-mail catchall address. Your email won’t reach your intended recipient and you won’t even know it.
- An effective domain name requires little to no explanation when expressed verbally. Unless your brand depends on it, try to avoid:
- Using numbers because you’ll always have to follow up by saying either “That’s the number ‘3’” or “That’s the word ‘three’ spelled out.”
- Substituting phonetic letters such as “magik” instead of “magic” because you’ll always have to follow up by saying, “That’s ‘magik’ spelled with a ‘k’.”
- Out-of-context homophones. For example, “WriteOfWay.com” (right of way) because you’ll always have to follow up by saying, “That’s ‘write’ as in writing a letter.”
- Using acronyms to substitute a long business name. For example, when spoken, “V’s” will sound like “B’s”, “X’s” will sound like “S”, and so son. Plus, no one will remember a name like “aiwsdd.com”!
- Keep it short. For clarity, avoid using more than three or four separate words. AcmeDesigns.com is OK, but AcmeIncWebSiteDesignAndDevelopment.com is too much.
- Try to avoid using hyphens because they can be awkward to say aloud. If you must use a hyphen (see the next point), use only one. Saying “MyCompanyhyphenNamedotcom” is fine, but saying “MyhyphenCompanyhyphenNamedotcom” is far too cumbersome.
- Be conscious of word arrangement. Sometimes, due to an unfortunate arrangement of words, a hyphen is necessary to protect the integrity of your brand identity. For example, the IT support community Web site Experts Exchange wisely used a hyphen in their domain name, www.experts-exchange.com. Without the hyphen, the domain name can be interpreted as www.ExpertSexChange.com. Even minor things like word arrangement can affect the image of your brand.
