Congrats! You hired an online marketing agency to build you a new website! Creating a website for your business can be a daunting task (I should know – I’ve been a website project manager for many years and have worked with clients from a variety of businesses), but with the right team to guide you through the creative and technical process, you can have a successful online presence.

I am a bit of a straight-shooter and want to give you some key points that will make ALL the difference in having your website project go smoothly. Here you go: 

• Know your audience and your goals for the website. What do you want the site to do for you? Sell? Entertain? Educate? These are things that we need to know before designing the site. We will ask you questions during the kick off meeting that will help direct us, but it’s helpful if you have given it prior thought and know what the objectives of the website are from the get-go.
• Settle on your brand. The design of the site is created around your logo and branding. If you have branding that you love – great! Stick with it. We’ll work to craft the site around your branding and your stated goals. If you don’t have a logo or branding, or if you don’t like what you have and want something different, let us know in the beginning of the project. We’ll work with you to create custom branding which we’ll then implement on the website, and can be used on other marketing materials. What you should avoid, however, is changing your branding last minute, or before site launch deciding you want to switch it up. A change like this will slow the project down, delay launch, and most likely will result in additional cost. 
• Don’t underestimate the content of your site. Well-written content can sell. Well-optimized content can help you be found online. A beautiful site means little if search engines can’t find you because you lack content or your content is unoptimized. Have an SEO expert identify which keywords are most searched on for your specific industry, and then write (or use a content writer to write your site’s copy) content that incorporates your key search terms. That said, it’s wonderful to have every sentence on your site perfect before launch, but don’t let that stop you from seeing it go live! If you get wrapped up in the copy not being perfect, the site will never see the light of day. I say, “Rip that bandaid off and celebrate your new website launch”. With Bizango’s editing tools, you can edit or add content post-launch easily. 
• To keep the project moving toward the finish line, it’s best if you can give us your feedback within a day or two. If we are waiting on design feedback from you for over a week, this can really stretch out the timeline of your project quickly. We can’t start building your site until you have signed-off on the design. So, if you have a deadline you’d like to launch the site by, or if you’re just eager to get the site online, you can help keep the project on track and give us your feedback promptly. 
• Trust us. We truly care about helping your business and we commit to doing our best work for each client. It all starts with listening to you and what your goals are for the website. We appreciate that you know your business inside and out, and we respect your insight into your business. When it comes to designing your site and implementing an online marketing strategy, let us guide you. We’ve been in this business for over 10 years and we have an amazing team of people who love design, and who are down-right usability nerds. If you have questions or would like to see something different - talk to us! There are always reasons behind why something is a certain way from colors, to site structure, to content hierarchy. We want your feedback. But trust that we have the experience and the expertise to create an amazing website. Let us help you. 
• Think of your website as a living, breathing organism. Launching your site should not keep you from continuing work on your site. Keep your site fresh by updating the copy frequently, or swapping out photos. The more you tend to your website, the more enriching an experience it will be for both you and your site visitors. If you want to add a page or other functionality to your site, let us help you. And when it comes time for a redesign, our team will be here to bring your vision to light. 

A website project should be a fun collaboration between you, the business owner and the web design agency creating it. It’s a partnership based on respect and trust. We are genuinely interested in helping your business grow and we understand the importance of telling your story through digital marketing.

~ Renee Lico, Project Manager at Bizango