Everyday billions of people search the Internet not only to find products and services but also to find references and reviews of businesses from details collected at events show, paperback publications and from other professionals in the industry.

Imagine your website as your companies shop window on the high street with thousands of people walking past every day. Businesses need to be constantly looking at not only their shop window to see how you can entice people in the door but also look at others to see if you are missing something that could be important to your customers.  Unlike a brochure that may not change for 12months or more your website gives you unlimited possibilities to upload information on your products, services and history of your company and should be updated at and adjusted weekly or daily. Websites are windows for businesses into the digital world but are there are things you must remember when building a website to make it successful.

Before building a website, ask yourself "how is the site going to benefit my business and my customers" also "How this investment going to make me money". Most importantly like with any business idea or plan remember "have a plan, but plan to change."

Things to remember

Logos and branding. Remember a name is not a logo unless you establish a way to brand it. Your logo should be simple and easy to identify.

Colours involved in your site. Keep things simple and clear, remembering less is more. Try to keep to 3 or 4 colours unless trying to highlight certain important buttons for example “login, logout, Register". This will keep the site clear and professional looking.

Clearly state what your business is and does. The easiest way to do this is to separate and group all your products and service together. Try to establish your target industry and business from the home page; use pictures, videos and simple layouts for people to select what they would like to read more about on your site.

How difficult is the CMS Content Management System to use. The CMS is the software that holds all the pages of your site together. It allows you to upload text, images and more so it is important to see first-hand how difficult is it to navigate through the system yourself since you do not want to continuously have to ask the webmaster to add and update content for you. Also ask the webmaster what are the limitations with the system and does it allow you to expand in the future without rebuilding the site.

Remember Speed. Remind the webmaster that you need the site to be fast since most of your users won't have high speed Internet on hand and will be relying on Wi-Fi hotspots and 3G dial up systems most of the time. I would so also recommend that no flash be used so the site can be visible with all tablet computers including the popular IPad.

Before building the site

Clearly work out what you want the site to do now and also in the near future

• Display information
• Gather email addresses for mail outs
• Do you want to be able to sell products and services online
• Do users need a register login account to store info
• Allow people to comment and review information
• Allow people to download videos, brochures catalogues
• Send newsletter from the CMS system
• Fill in survey forms
• Do you want a forum

Things you should have on your site

• Links to social media, share buttons and print page
• News & Press - This is important for SEO Search Engine Optimisation and keep people up to date with your company developments
• Contact Us Page - remember how are people going to contact you

• In person include address, Google map, opening and closing and a picture of the front of your business
• By phone include international dialling number. A Skype link so they can call you for free
• By email create a form making them insert their name, email address, a subject heading and comments box.

Don't forget to include automatic emails thanking the person for getting in touch, registering as well as informing them that someone from your office will be in contact soon.

Finding a webmaster to build your site

This is the most important and the most difficult. Interview at least three different companies and give them an over view of what you would like things to do. Remember choose one who shares your passion for your project. Inspect the content management system CMS see how easy it is for you to use. Ask yourself does the system allow you to expand and grow to what you envision the site to be in 5 years’ time. If you don't know ask what is the limitations with the system are and explain what you want to do in the future. Ask about the terms of the site so if you choice to sell it later who owns what.

I would recommend speaking to a lawyer to draft a contact on the ownership of the source code outlining what is in your best interest, as well as drafting the terms and conditions and privacy documents for the site. Make sure everything is written down clearly on what the site must do and how much it is going to cost. Allow for about 10-20% more for changers and testing.

Communication with the webmaster

It is sometimes difficult explain the changers in design that you want. Where you would like to see thing put and how you want on your site. It is also expensive to go back and forward their office to discuss changers and things that have may have been over looked or aren't quite correct. There is a number of software packages available that you may already have on your computer. The best product that I found is Microsoft OneNote. This product allows you to take screen clipping then draw and write notes above or to the side of the picture. This will help make ideas clean both in your mind and the mind of the designer.

Other things to remember

If you are gathering information about your users and selling products make sure you have registered with your local government body to do so. As well as contacted a lawyer specialising in draft terms and conditions documents as well as you sites privacy agreements to ensure that you are operating within the ever changing online legal laws.

For Assistance

For assistance in developing your project contact the MarineDex team where we will be more then to arrange come and consult for you to ensure that your website will be ready to be seen by all in the marine industry.