Keeping your Website Expectations in Balance

  When it comes to websites, simpler is often better.

Over the last few years when I've gone into repair a website I am often struck by how many unnecessary features owners have bought. Frequently they by the top-of-the-line plan from their host and the end up with a great many add-ons and complexities they don't need.

There is one site in particular that I'm thinking of which could've actually been done on a service very similar to the one that runs this blog, which if you haven't guessed is "Blogger". Of which the most expensive part is the domain and it really isn't expensive at all.

One of the issues I see over and over again with people shopping for a website is that they neglect to look at what is called the "back end". This is the part of the website where you actually enter articles and interact with design elements. Before you purchase a website package always make sure you look at this aspect of the site. If it seems to foreign then consider, choosing another host or a different website platform. Yes not all website back ends are created equal.

If you are choosing to have the website designed by a professional ensure that you have at least a passing understanding of how to remove and add content as well as doing basic upkeep. Because if the designer is on a short term contract or there is a disagreement down the road it is you the owner of the website that will be stuck in the lurch.

The other issue to remember is that modern websites are not static, in that like all other software they need updates, and what works today may not work tomorrow. So approach a new website as something that involves and changes over time. I am frankly surprised that good old Blogger is still around and that the backend has essentially remain the same. Now for me I'm not too worried I know I can adapt quite easily. But I have seen websites which have been around long enough that they reach a point in order to work with the modern Internet they must be completely redesigned on occasions. It's a little more than a facelift, let me tell you. But she must build in expectations and contingencies for just this kind of thing.

Also do a fair bit of planning before hand spend a few months really researching what you want to do with the website. Once a name and its respective domain name become established it can be very difficult to change over. Not impossible but very challenging in some cases. You may have to start all over in regards to getting good rankings on search engines for example because of the old name was successful you may be in on situation of having to "beat your self".

The reason I'm writing this little article today is in the last two weeks there has been an incident involving separate companies which could've been resolved had they done planning in the past. In both cases it would've saved them a great deal of time and money.

There are several other articles on the blog dealing with various aspects of website creation and upkeep. You can simply click this link to see the most current list of documents, or at any time, use the search box on the site to search for the keyword "website" or just click here to automate the search.

Take care Patrick