five questions to ask yourself: points to consider

You should ask yourself these questions before you start the process of getting a website. Here are more points to consider for each question:

1. what will your website be for?

• to act as a simple on-line 'yellow pages' advertisement? Or to act as a detailed brochure? The former might mean a very small (and inexpensive) website; the latter will mean that more time and money has to be spent.
• to sell a service or goods? An on-line shop can often be a money-maker, but it is more complex to set up and to run, and it is therefore more expensive.
• to be a place for members or like-minded people to meet? Chat rooms and message boards are great, but they come at extra cost for build and maintenance.

2. who is your audience?

• do you know who your target audience is going to be? This will determine the complexity and layout of your site (for instance, children use websites far differently than do adults, and people with physical disabilities need different accessibility tools than do people with visual impairments).
• are you addressing a national or international public? Different colour schemes, spelling, and even language options might have to be offered.

3. are you ready for the work you need to do?

• websites don't write themselves. I can re-write whatever you give me to make it suitable for on-screen reading, but first you need to gve me something to work with. Make sure that you have time to collect or create the words and images you need for your site. If you want me to research and write your content, be prepared for extra costs.
• you will be the one who will be responsible for what is on your website, so it's important to preview your website before it's launched to the public. You will need to set aside time to do this, and might want to ask staff, friends, or even favoured clients, for their feedback. Be prepared to have cherished features rubbished by people road-testing your site and to have to come back to me for changes.

4. who will be at your end of your website?

• you will be getting telephone calls and emails: do you have someone ready to accept them? There's no point asking the public to contact you if there's no one at your end prepared to receive communications.
• can you handle the extra contact with the public a website will bring you? Those with goods or services to sell can sometimes be surprised at the volume of demand: will you be ready, or will you have your customers cursing?

5. are you in it for the long haul?

• Websites that have clearly been untouched, unloved, and unrefreshed since they were launched don't do anyone any favours. A website is ideally updated every few months with new content or images or both. Do you want to do the updating of your site yourself, or do you want to pay someone else (preferably me) to keep an eye on it, chase you for updates, and do the work?
• The costs of a website last as long as the website itself. You have to pay for web space every year and periodically renew your domain name. If you are using a content management system or web editing software, you may have to renew your licence regularly. If you have staff or an outside party maintaining your website, that also costs you money. It's important to budget these costs so that they don't surprise you in the future.