Get a Website That Makes you look sensational, helps new customers find you easily 7 days a week and then encourages them to spend their cash making your business more profitable than you can imagine.

Designing a website is not just about having a web pages that look good. Your website needs to secure sales and that starts with the planning.

Using over 10 years experience I help you work out exactly what your website needs to show your business in its best light and make your customers feel safe and comfortable dealing with you from the moment they visit your site.

The first step to a great ecommerce site:

We arrange a mutually convenient time to discuss your needs where you can tell me more about your business aims and goals. This initial contact can be over the phone and can take anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour and won't cost you a penny. During this time we will be able to see which of my services suits your current needs best.

If you like what you hear and your business fits my criteria the next step is to arrange either a half day or full days consulting meeting where I can go through a step by step consulting plan to fine tune your expectations.

Step Two: The initial consultation.

The chances are you just want a web site designed or revamped. If only it were that simple.

Ideally the initial consult will involve a face to face meeting, if however you are based outside of the UK then a telephone conference may suit your budget better.

The consulting plan takes us through an A - Z of your business and helps you get a better understanding of what is really involved in running a successful website. During the consulting stage we will discuss:

• The product(s) or service you are selling.
• Market Research
• Your staff (or you) and the skills they have. - These are the people who will be running your site day to day and you want to know what impact your new or redesigned site will have on them or you.
• The software you currently use. - Do we need to integrate your web site into an existing system.
• Your website's content. - Is it written, audio or video.
• Graphics and Artwork
• Copy writing
• Search engine Optimization
• Traffic generation
• List building and management
• Client Relationships (Developing new and improving the existing)
• Affiliate Marketing
• Legal and compliance issues
• Tracking and analysis
• Ongoing Support

As you can see, there is a lot involved in running a web site. I want to make sure that you understand as much as you need (or want) to know so that there are no nasty surprises at a later date.

Step three: The consultation evaluation.

Once we have gone through the second stage it's time for me to evaluate all we have learnt and to put together your available options. In some cases there may only be one option and in others there will be more. It all depends on what we discover as no two businesses are the same.

The evaluation and proposal will be sent sent you can digest and discuss with partners or managers. The chances are that you will have a number of questions and once you have submitted back them to me I will be able to answer them.

The evaluation will highlight what work I will undertake directly and also any areas where we need to outsource. This may be due to budget or time constraints but the end result will be the same. You will have a plan of action which results in a website that meets your current needs as well as being somewhat future proofed.

Step four: Pulling the pieces of your web site together

Once you have agreed the plan of action and paid a deposit which will be between 30% & 50% based on the type and scope of the project, we can begin the process of designing or developing your site.

The time it takes to complete will vary depending on the options you selected during the evaluation and you should also be aware that further staged payments may need to be made as we reach various milestones.

Once we have agreed out plan of action, changes to the brief can be time consuming and costly so we need to be certain that have covered all of the aspects during the evaluation period. Typically this stage can take anywhere between two weeks and a few months. Only in very rare cases will the initial design and development phase take longer.

Step five: Ongoing support and evaluation.

One of the biggest complaints I heard was that many consultants and website designers didn't provide ongoing support once the job was done. I think that this is the most important piece to your puzzle.

Just having your web site up and running is one thing but once it has been up for a few months it is possible to improve your profitability further by reviewing your visitor logs or making changes based on your customer feedback.

We also have to understand that the internet is an evolving medium and as trends change your business may need to change with them. What ever your needs I will be happy to offer ongoing support to ensure that you are always maximizing your return on investment.