Arguably the single most important decision to make before developing your company website. What is your budget? The average small website costs $2,400. for 5-7 pages, security, hosting and email. For larger websites with 300 pages or eCommerce functions, your budget could be substantially higher. Remember that a proper company website is built by engineers, designers and security experts. If you are skimping in any of these areas, your price could be lower but your functionality, accessibility and security may suffer. Many businesses refer to loans to establish a properly built company website.

When communicating with your web developers, designers, security, hosting, email, etc - you will need one person from your company to designate as the primary point of contact. Having a team sporadically reply about website questions will cause confusion and lead to a less than cohesive brand appearance. When a question arises that requires the entire team to vote or discuss, your point of contact can then bring the subject up during a meeting or email chain to receive input. Then relay to the vendors (engineers, designers, security, hosting, email, etc)

When developing a website, it's important to develop and design your site with the primary language in mind. If you are targeting Spanish clients but hiring an English only speaking web development and design agency, you will run into linguistic and cultural barriers. The same goes for hiring Punjabi or Russian speaking developers & designers when your focus is an English speaking audience. Choose an agency that fluently speaks the language of your audience. We see cultural differences even in design. For example, in Japan, cute emojis are very popular so GoDaddy's Japanese version of their website uses emojis and heart icons rather than people. In Brazil, GoDaddy's website shows actual photography of people working in pottery industries. These are cultural visual differences beyond language.

Some companies actively choose to keep their business local to support local economy. Others simply want to be able to pick up the phone to a local agency when a question comes up. So choosing the location of your web development agency should be a major consideration. Are you the type of person who typically works on creative changes at night? Consider a company overseas who is in the office when you're up late at night. If this isn't a concern, you can choose an agency anywhere in the world that checks all your other needs.

Is your website an informational and service website that highlights each solution you offer like robotics and innovation? Or are you a retail corporation who needs a stable eCommerce platform to sell your products? Is your website currently hosted elsewhere with years of content (both recent and outdated) that will need to be transferred and / or archived? Consider your needs prior to speaking to agencies and if necessary, ask your prospective agencies for insight into what you need. Sometimes it's as simple as explaining your end goal to determine your path.

Does your company frequently host events or sell tickets? You will need an event platform integrated into your website. Will you be moving or adding blog posts or articles? Does your business utilize a forum for clients or staff? Bookings and scheduling for patients or guests? Online restaurant or catering that will require a menu and delivery system? These are all points to consider during your planning.

Your developers will need to know if you need a website built from scratch ranging from a classic, simple website to an advanced website. Does your website currently exist and you need help moving or migrating from the current platform / solution?  Do you want to keep your existing website but update or modernize it with a redesign or new development? Is your website satisfactory but you need mobile / device development and design or search engine optimization?

Web Design: Find a web designer to create a new website, redesign or
migrate your existing site or build a mobile site.

Do you need company email accounts, Workflows, Content Management, Site security, domain acquisition, DNS management, CDN protection? Consider all website related services and solutions you currently require or may want to add down the road. The outline will help your developers to create a concise strategy that fits your needs.

How quickly you need your website completed will help you connect with agencies that can accommodate you. If you have a website that needs to be done quickly, be sure to let your considered agencies know up front so you don't waste your time. In some situations, you may be able to pay for a rush service or look for a less busy agency that can quickly take your project on. Consider whether they offer everything you need or if you will need to find multiple vendors to accomplish your list.