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Business Website Action Plan
As featured in MyBusiness Mag August 2002
by Paul Wilson, Hot Chilli - Creative Director

(Part 1 | 2)

Organise Website Navigation

1. Create a navigation scheme. Starting with Home, add up to 7 additional menu choices using your ranked content headings.
   E.g. Home | Products | Services | Support | About Us
2. Use post it notes as headings and move them around until you are happy with a navigation scheme. Then write it down on a single sheet of paper.

Prepare Images/Graphics

1. You will probably need some images on your website. Where will they come from?
2. Make sure they are good quality. Happy snaps with a home digital camera probably won’t do.

Test and Maintain Your Website

1. Get colleagues and friends to test your website and offer feedback? Make changes accordingly.
2. Who will be maintaining your website after it goes live?
3. Will training be needed?

Promote Your Website

1. How will you promote your website? (Start by letting your existing customers know about it. How about an in-store promotion or mail out?)
   
2. List the search engines your customers use to find information. Investigate how much it would cost to get a business listing on them.
   
3. What sites do your customers visit on the Internet? Can you advertise on them?
   
4. Make sure your website designer includes meta-tags. These help search engines find and index your website pages.

Choose a Professional Design Group

1. Only create the website yourself if you are confident of doing a good job. Don’t use friends and relatives – you would probably find it difficult to be honest with them.
2. Choose a professional website design group that wants to understand your business before creating a website.
3. Ask for upfront costs and a detailed quote and schedule.