Las Vegas Internet Services (Tips When Buying Your Web Site)

Las Vegas Internet Services
What should you consider when seeking an agency to work with on your internet project?

Everybody is aware that a good web presence is vital but whether you already have a site and are looking at updating in the near future, or are looking to make your first steps onto the information superhighway, the potential for disaster is huge. So to help, Las Vegas Internet Services has produced the first in a series of unbiased, common sense, buying guides to help you survive the minefield of buying a web site.

Be clear about how you will measure the success of the web site. It is vital to define the goal of your site before any work is undertaken, ask your self what you are hoping to achieve. Is it sales, to disseminate information or an active news resource etc.
The answer to these questions is vital for all future work on the site. Any agency that comes to you with visuals or mechanics before they know the purpose of the site is trying to sell what they want, not what you need. Setting and monitoring success criteria will ensure you measure success objectively and will provide the platform for future web developments.
Who are your audiences? Why are they visiting your site and what will draw them back for further visits? Why people visit your site provides the framework for your content. This content needs to be refreshed and be relevant to keep the site sticky! Commercial, B2B, consumer, age group, location, language, likely hardware platform, bandwidth etc. All of these must be allowed for and needs to be considered in the preliminary stages of site design.
What do you expect visitors to gain from your site? Are you expecting actual sales with payment, or are you hoping to inform potential customers. Do you want your catalogue online for browsing or is it a promotional tool?
How will you proactively maintain the content of your site on a day to day basis? If your site is a simple information site you probably won't need to update it very often (although remember that changes will be needed if only when addresses or telephone numbers change) but for most web sites the information changes are much more frequent, whether its new products every month or stock levels and news information which can change by the minute.
You need to be sure that whoever builds your site allows for these future content changes. Do you want to be talking to your designers every time you want to change a price or similar (and of course be charged accordingly) or do you want to have the ability to update the site yourself, with minimal effort and cost.
What types of organization will you shortlist for proposals? A quick look in the press shows companies offering complete web sites for little as $299, whereas dedicated design agencies can be quoting $10,000+. There is a huge range to choose from and you really do get what you pay for – remember that your site will be the first contact for a lot of new potential customers from anywhere in the world.
Cheap and cheerful is a dangerous game to play, with your company image and reputation at stake. Equally you need to be sure that you are paying for what you need, not to produce an all singing and dancing exhibition piece for your design company, which your customers don't need and probably can't use anyway.
Can the agency demonstrate a track record of providing solutions similar to your own needs (although not necessarily in your industry)? Don't be somebody's showcase, you need to be sure the company you use is professional and has a proven ability of working with businesses similar to your own.
Does the agency short listed show sufficient understanding of how a web site fits in the marketing mix? There are plenty of companies with good technical ability, but that is only a part of the equation, you need somebody with a sound marketing background, who can help promote your company in, what is probably, a new medium to yourselves. The potential problems are huge and you need to get this right the first time.
Can the agency show sufficient knowledge in the area of web usability? i.e. producing a site that is accessible to as wide an audience as possible, regardless of internet connection, computer and browser type?
Will the agency provide you with enough qualitative information after the site is live to provide recommendations on how the site can be developed? The creation and launch of your site is a big event, but then what? You need constant feedback on its activity, reliability and usage. Are customers looking at particular items but not buying? Where are they located? Can they find what they need? These and dozens of other questions can be of huge benefit to your business and you need to be sure your designers can provide this information and on-going support.
Is the agency interested in your long-term interests or a quick project win? The number of companies in this field which have started up and disappeared within the first year or so is scary. You are then left with zero support at best and at worst a site which could disappear overnight or that stays up forever getting more and more out of date and you having no way of correcting or accessing it. Las Vegas Internet Services has ten years of experience in professional design and marketing for some of the regions most prestigious companies and can prove our ability in all of these areas.

Las Vegas Internet Services
Las Vegas business web developers and business consultants building and marketing your web site for USA and international markets.

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