Retox believe the success of any website project is the stage that is often most overlooked.  It’s easy to let creative ideas run away with you and most clients do find the creative process the most engaging and exciting aspect of their website design project.   We can’t say we blame them as it’s a really fun process to think about brands, colours, design, layout, photography and graphics.     

But before you get carried away with the look and feel of your website remember that the most crucial stage is actually what goes before.  

You know the old saying no man plans to fail, he only fails to plan.  Well, this applies to your web development project too.

Before you start thinking about creative designs and concepts, you should plan for the website’s overall success, which means listing your objectives and goals for the new site and figuring out what you and your clients need it to do.  

Ask yourself some of the following questions.

What do you want your website to do?

What will it need to deliver for your business to be considered a success?

How will you measure success?  Is it traffic, leads, sales, enquiries, bookings, registration etc.?

Who is your target audience?

How will your website add value to your customers?

Plan out their journey – why do they need your services or products, what factors will they consider when looking for a supplier and what will influence their ultimate buying decision.

Also be realistic about any constraints you may have such as budget or time.  These may limit the technology or features you can implement.

The planning stage helps you define your goals and agree as a business what success will look like.  It helps you understand your customers journey and how they will engage with your website content, this then dictates how to layout your pages and where key information and features must go.  You can now pull together wireframes or basic page templates to guide your creative process.

Once you have this level of planning detail done, you can then move on to the creative stage and get excited about how to present your brand online and make beautiful web pages that make you standout. 

If you have a web development project you’re planning and would like to work with a Newcastle web design company who plan for success, then give us a call on 01670 785786 or email hello@retoxdigital.com