Web Development - What is it really? - How not to get ripped off

Web Development can mean a lot of different things. It can mean putting a single page on a hosted site to sell a product or creating a web site with thousands of pages, links, and information. No matter what it means it is a skill that is varied among people all over the world. Most "techies" first web site is touting their web development skills, even if one page is the extent of their experience. This creates a problem for a person or business when trying to obtain web development services as it is so very hard to be sure you are getting what you pay for.

Web Development - The myth

Creating a single page for the donut shop next door does not a web developer make. Not to say that the donut shop next door does not need a web site, but don't they need one to make money. The myth of web development in general is that "If you make it good enough they will come". This is simply not true. Whether it be one page or a huge corporate site, web development takes skill, research, and ability. Just ask the donut shop next door, they have probably already been down the road of "HEY, You need a cool web page and you will make tons of money and donuts."

Web Development - Step One - I'm not doing this because I am bored

In web development, when creating a web site you must first define the purpose or reason for your web site's existence. After all, you were not just bored when you decided to get a web site, you want something out of it don't you. Usually what you want out of your web site is MONEY or something that will lead you directly to the money. Whether you are selling a product, branding your company, or advertising a service, you are creating a web site to succeed and in order to succeed, you must do it properly. Let's look at our famous no name donut shop. Why would a donut shop want a web site? I can think of a few reasons of the top, all leading to money. Donut shop has a special recipe, mugs and hats are sometimes sold at donut shops, some donut shops deliver, and to bring in new customers. There are a lot of people that believe a small local shop can't really benefit from a website available around the world. This is not true and has already been mis-proven. So let us think long and hard about the purpose of your web site and then move to the second step in successful web development and that is research.

Web Development - Step Two - No research = No traffic

The second step in proper web development is RESEARCH. In order to create a proper web presence for your customer, You must know your customer's customer. After all, The donut shop does not want to attract people looking for bagels 400 miles away. You must research the actual purpose of the web site whether it be to present information, generate marketing leads, or create revenue. Once you research the purpose you are on your way to identifying the audience you want to reach. Let's return to the donut shop for an example. If I was to research a web site for a donut shop, I would want to know first why people would search on the internet for donuts. The next step would be what could I provide to people to attract them to our donut shop web site. You probably did not guess this one but after 10 minutes of research I have found that the best and most effective way to attract visitors would be by providing donut recipes on the web site and optimizing the site for this phrase.

Web Development - Step Three - Now what do we do, or better yet, where do we do it?

At this point we know who we want to reach and why. Now the question is: Where do we want to reach our customers? This factor depends very much on your type of business. Although, a common misconception of a business is that it wants to reach a certain local area because their is no business outside that area. Again, this is not true. I must be hungry because I am going to return to the donut shop to explain this as well. Can you tell I like donuts? The donut shop wants to sell donuts, and not donut recipes which is what would bring people to the site the most. The donut shop is located on Clearwater Beach in Florida, so they automatically figure that is WHERE their customers are. Nope, not true. Let us expand on this. The donut shop is in a tourist area, so what is to say someone in California looking for donut recipes, finds your site and gets a free recipe. Well 'lo and behold, the web surfer's entire family is coming to Clearwater Beach, Florida for two weeks to visit family in the near future and just got a coupon at your site for a free donut and coffee. They love donuts as you can tell because they were searching for donut recipes. You just sold some serious donuts. So it is important to look at the where, yet not restrict yourself to your hometown.

Now we have covered who, what, and where. When and why are easy. When is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Why was mentioned above. The why is money. Now that we know who, what, where, when and why, The only question left is how. That is where we come in. Contact us today to solve the how to your web presence. We can help you make money.

by Dave Barry, Computer Concierge

High End Development for a Low End Price.