search
date/time
North East Post
A Voice of the Free Press
frontpagebusinessartscarslifestylefamilytravelsportsscitechnaturefictionCartoons
Sonia Price
Features Writer
4:00 AM 12th February 2022
frontpage

Love At First Site - How Do I Turn My Website Dream Into Reality?

 
I have been musing, procrastinating, doodling, writing, pacing the room - anything but getting on with my website to market my freelance writing for much longer than is respectable. I do, though, know from many of the business people that I talk with that I am not alone in this. Let’s face it, a belter of a website - one that looks the cat’s whiskers and that is a dream to navigate and, importantly, does my selling for me is my ultimate goal. It is going to be the most important tool in my marketing arsenal, so perhaps I can be forgiven for agonising over it.

And yes, I have been shamefully perusing the sites of writers and influencers for inspiration - usually under cover of the night. I have been furtively snooping around the websites and other digital market stalls of such selling supremacists as John Hegarty of the famous advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, Vanity Fair magazine and even the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Lofty company I know.

I know that a successful website should deploy the same psychological drivers that will attract customers in any other sphere. My prospective customers will need to feel some identification and confidence towards my brand if I am to have any chance of working with them. This is why I have given so much time to thinking about what I want from my site in terms of the desired feelings and response I would like it to elicit from my target audience.

And I have procrastinated enough. It’s 8.30 am on Thursday 10th Feb. I have promised myself that before noon this very morning a detailed brief of my website requirements, the budget , and the site’s performance goals will ping decisively into my chosen designer Steven Helliwell of Huddersfield’s Orange Media’s inbox. I should say a few words as to why I chose Steven to
design my site. Having perused dozens of designers websites, I settled on the recommendation of a friend who had used Orange Media for her website. So I checked out Orange Media’s website and it inspired confidence with its clarity and thoughtful copy which described in detail the whole process of bringing a website to life. This was a comfort for someone like me who relies on good technical support.

Furthermore the testimonials were from real people in real companies recounting their real experience with the business.

Steven Helliwell
Steven Helliwell
In my mind’s eye I can see Steven Helliwell opening my email with a look of astonishment and possibly uttering under his breath “About bloody time!” You would not know this by looking at him.

The reason that I have got my finger out is because, after weeks of gentle coaxing, he has sent me his very useful five point ebook about bringing your website to life instead of dreaming about it. If you, like me, have been dreaming but putting off your website and not getting on with selling your wares you really ought to download Orange Media’s 5 point plan which walks you through the process so you can get on with building your business.

I give the main points here in precis and offer some commentary on how I have followed the step-by-step guide to, at last, formulate my website brief.

1 Requirements

Write down your website requirements so that you are prepared to brief a good website designer. You will need to give some thought to how your website will engage your customers and the mechanics of how they can communicate with you. For instance do you want a sell-off- the- site function or perhaps a Live Chat facility so that your customers can quickly get answers from you or your team? Write down your ideas for the look and feel of the website. For my website I want to convey assurity. I have decided on the confidence and authority that I have always associated with French blue, so this colour will feature strongly. I also like the clarity that well-chosen typography set against a pale tinted or white space affords. I have sketched out the copy. All I need now is to field this information to a website designer who I know will be able to realise my vision.

2 The Investment

Ask yourself “What investment do I need to make in my website to bring a meaningful return to my business?” It is possible that the budget you have available will not meet all of the requirements you have for your site. If this is the case you will need to consider increasing the level of investment or delaying some of the lesser specifications for a second phase of the site development, then making a later investment in the design as income is generated from your website .

For freelancers such as myself who are pacing their limited funds it’s important that my site has the key details of what I do and how prospective clients can contact me. There will be opportunities to build on the content as I build up my business. The important point is that people know where to reach me if they would like to hire me to write for them.

3 Set Goals

Stating clear goals - written down - for your website enables you to measure the success of the project as it progresses and the performance of the site. For the process of commissioning and creating the website itself these goals could be:

State the desired features and functions and the look and ‘feel’ of the site.

Communicate these points clearly to the designer.

Agree a budget and delivery time frame.

Check that you and your designer are both on the same page about your vision and expectations.

Achieve a site that meets your stated requirements, delivered on time and within budget.

Make your goals SMART ones. These are:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound

4 Content

Putting time into creating high quality, engaging content is important and often overlooked. Drawing a prospective customer to your site is just the starting point. You need to keep them there until a well informed decision is

made. Satisfying the customer’s need for information so that a buying decision can be reached is where good copywriting comes in.

Creating quality content that ‘speaks’ to your target audience will hold their attention and keep them on the site. This is where good copywriters earn their keep. Finding one who understands your brand and its audience will improve the performance of your site where it counts - influence and sales. A skilled copywriter who knows the craft of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) should be seen as an investment.

The 21st century digital marketplace is where it’s all happening in most businesses, so captivating imagery, compelling headlines, quality content, good site architecture and calls to action are the vital ingredients in a successful website.

5 Over to You

This is the point where you get all those stated ideas over to a skilled designer who not only knows how to build a well functioning, attractive website but who has the expertise to keep it performing optimally - tracking and monitoring its performance and making any adjustments necessary.



Sonia Price is a regular contributor to our pages and Steven Helliwell is Managing Director of Orange Media.
http://orangemedia.co.uk