I Need My Website Redesigned, Where Do I Start? Submitted by Sandy Lawrence, Perceptive Marketing 281-807-1300 / SandyLawrence@PerceptiveMarketing.com / www.PerceptiveMarketing.com Written by Brian Bearden, Zephyr Salvo Studios 713-481-3321 / 832-594-5390 / www.zSalvo.com / brian@zsalvo.com This past week I signed up three new website redesign clients. (A small Business, a church and a local government office) All three had current websites that were not living up to their true potential. All three asked the same questions. Where do we start? Here are some of my recommendations... Check the Competition The first place to start on your website project is to look at some competitor websites in your industry. You will want to know what your potential customers will comparing you to. You will also want to find out if there are any standards. Does your competition use the same verbiage for their page names? Is there a similar look and feel for the sites? Make a list of the websites that you like, dislike and why. This will help your website design company when coming up with the look and features of your new site. Prepare Your Information Taking a look at your current website and the competition’s sites? What information do you want to include on your new website? Gather any brochures, sales presentations, notes, etc that you have. This information will be good to have when planning for your copy. If you can, delegate specific parts of the site to the appropriate department. It may seem overwhelming to come up with content for an entire website but if you delegate some of the responsibility it will be a lot easier. You can then have someone take all of the content and review it so it has the same flow. You can hire an editor or someone to review the information if needed. Preliminary Site Map What do you want to include on your site. This is where you might start titling pages of the site. Home, Company Info, Contact Us, Don’t hide valuable information under generic page names like Services or Products. Depending on how many products or services you have, you may want to have separate pages for each. Reduce the number of clicks it takes to get to your information. Photos Gather photos of your products, industry, etc. Whatever photos you think would be good for your site. You can also visit stock photography websites such as www.istockphoto.com, www.gettyimages.com and some industry specific stock photo websites like www.energyimages.com for oil and gas images, etc. Try and get good quality photos with high enough resolution. Web calls for 72 dpi versus 300 dpi for print. A designer can always lower the resolution to work for web but cannot increase a low resolution photo. * Is your current website outdated or not bringing your business quality referrals? Just listen to CNN 650 AM on Tuesdays to Brian Bearden’s website design segment. You can also call into the show and ask any questions at 713-783-8365. I look forward to taking your calls on Wednesday, September 9th from 3-4pm. I’m sitting in for Sandy Lawrence with Perceptive Marketing. Brian will also provide a free on air website analysis for all callers. You can also follow Brian’s website tips on Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. Twitter - @brianbearden Facebook – briangbearden LinkedIn - brianbeardenhouston Email: brian@zsalvo.com About Our Show Expert: Brian Bearden is a Director and website redesign guy of Zephyr Salvo Studios. He has a true passion for the web and is glad to share is advice for making your website the best it can be. Visit www.zsalvo.com or www.upstreammarketing.net to see a sample of his design portfolio or call 713-481-3321 to schedule your free website consultation, or visit his website at www.Zsalvo.com. About Our Segment Sponsor: Perceptive Marketing president, Sandy Lawrence, is the driving force behind the company. She is a marketing and promotions executive with over 20 years experience at some of the largest and most well-known corporations in the US, such as Digital Equipment and HP/Compaq. Sandy recognizes the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of her clients and develops programs that help highlight their benefits for their customers. Her assistance results in increased business growth, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Sandy is a "people person" who works passionately and single-mindedly to take her client's message to the world. Her marketing skills and wealth of knowledge are now available to anyone who needs the competitive edge that only a truly perceptive marketing expert can give.