Having a professional quality web site is very crucial because it enables direct communication with agencies, clients and fellow colleagues.  Now, getting a professional quality website design for your business has never been easier or more affordable.  With the current economic downturn, it is easy to get quality professional services at a very reasonable cost.

Here are some important considerations when getting your website done. 

Do NOT get bogged down on the graphics and the fact that you want to make a site that looks pretty. 

This is the most common hurdle, most companies face when getting their first website up.

Most newbies :) believe that the web site needs to be perfect from day one of its launch.  This cant be further from the truth.  A website is in a constant state of evolution.  It needs to be tested regularly so that it performs as expected for the goals or targets that are set for it. 

Set a goal for the website.

Now this is the MAIN reason why you need a website.  The goals you set now becomes your benchmark to test your progress with.  This can be something simple to begin with, like “I expect to have 500 visitors or 1000 visitors (unique hits) from people that are searching for my product or services”.

This actually requires a bit of research and guidance from your website designer and consultant and in my opinion where you should spend the most time when dealing with your web design team.

No Auto responder. No Go

This again goes back to the objective of the website.  As you might expect the main goal for a majority of the sites would be to get more sales.  Auto responders are a must have to capture leads so that they can be put through a sales funnel.

Lastly, have Big G watch over you.

I know that sounds scary but really you need Google Analytics installed on your website so that you can do all the tracking and testing in the world for Free.

Yep, big G goes out and buys Urchin back in 2005 for millions of dollars just to make it available to everyone for free.  You, know the kind of thing big brothers do, while keeping an eye on you.  

What exactly do you get from Google Analytics?

Lets just list the top 3

a) website traffic broken down by region

b) split testing ability

c) goal setting and funneling of traffic to see how your ‘sales funnel’ is working.

So, if you have delayed all this time to get a website, there is no better time then now to get a affordable custom website designed for a fraction of the cost due to the economic downturn and the fact that you can get high quality at a lower price.