In the pre web development phase, it is all about determining the scope and extend of the website. The purpose of this phase is to realistically identify the objective, purpose of the website, effort, cost to develop the website. It will also then act as a guide and reference on what content to be put in place and how it should be displayed.

Goals & Objectives

Website development, like any other projects, need to serve a purpose. In the pre development phase, you need to know what the website is for. This will determine the type of content that need to be developed and how it should laid out.

1. What is the purpose of the website? Is it to interact with your potential client, promote your products and services, or sell products online?
2. Who is the target audience? Yes, your business may be targeting the entire age groups, income earners, etc. But which target group should your website interest most? Prioritise. It’s important because you can’t please everyone.
3. How do you want your target audience to interact with the website? Do you want them to be directed to a phone line, an online form that directs to a CRM system or email, buy and transact online, or do you want them to just learn more about your product and services and drop by the outlets?
4. Do your competitors have a website? Do you think their website is well designed and developed? How can your website be better than theirs?
5. Do you have the skills to manage a website? A website need manpower to maintain after development. Be prepared to assign someone to manage the development and maintenance. If you do not have anyone to assign, consider outsourcing.
6. Based on your target audience, what type of browser do you think they are using? Do you need the website to be compatible with all browsers? Would it be necessary to develop a website for mobile?
7. What domain name would be easier for your target audience to remember? Domain is important. It should be easy to remember, else they won’t come back.
8. How do you want to buy a web hosting? Do you want to based it on space, bandwidth, location, operating system or cost? If you are located in Singapore and so are your audience, you may want to consider location. Buying a hosting in US is cheaper and bigger in size, but you are compromising on speed.
9. Lastly, do you have the budget to investment on a website? Be realistic with the budget. Good and well designed websites are not cheap. It comes with a cost. Consider the amount spend on a website as investment. It is an investment anyway.

 Information Architecture

Once you are settled with the objective and goal, you are ready to work on the information portion. At this stage, it is all about the content that should entice your selected target audience. Content should be pitched and displayed to your audience level. Any lower or higher would put them off.

1. Determine the type of information that you should include in your website. If you are selling a product, include the specifications, images and tag lines. Also consider including information about your company to build some branding.
2. Determine the functions that would help achieve the goals. If the website purpose is to allow interaction with clients, you may want to consider include an online form, help desk, support system or a forum.
3. Develop content such that it is pitched to your audience level. If the primary target audience are lawyers, the content should not be written for school children.
4. Determine how the content should be displayed in the website. Many websites are making this error. Not all web pages should share the same layout. Some content needs to be displayed differently to interest the audience. The same applies to the home page.
5. Develop a wireframe. A wireframe determines the layout of the website. Usually, the layout of the home page is different from the inner/content pages. So how do you want to display them so that they are easy to be read? And how do you want to lay it out so that it can easily be navigated?

What should you do from here?

Pre Web Development phase is all about planning and drawing the blueprint. So, if you intend to save cost, it would be a good idea to sit back and plan out what you need in a website and what it should do for you.

Once you are ready, engage a freelance web designer or a web development agency to start on the website design and development.

At Zallaza Creative Studio we provide consultation service to go through the planning process with you.