In today’s market, being on the web is imperative for most businesses. The degree to which each business needs a web presence is determined by the expectations of the market: you need to respond to the needs of your potential/current customers and keep your competitive advantage. These are the primary considerations when exploring the necessary scope of building a new web presence.

The reason I do not write “web site”, but rather “web presence” is because many companies require a distributed online presence, which might include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other venues of similar purpose. This presence might be further extended to include content on trade association websites, professional member association websites, promotional partner websites, etc. Where companies once extended their brand to a single website (their own), they may now further extend the brand to other multiple online locations.

There are many, many web consulting companies and freelancers to choose from. Competition is thick, particularly at the lower levels of the market where the advent of the pre-configured Content Management System (CMS) [Wikipedia] and simple web graphic tools have made many an entry-level web designer.

However, it is imperative for small to mid-sized businesses that two critical issues* are understood by their chosen web consultant:

• Brand Management: both in terms of Logo Design and in terms of Content Development
• CMS Extendibility, Portability, Scalability

Brand Management

Your brand is defined, in part, by your logo and your content.

Logo Design

Because your brand is (or may become) so extended/visible both online and offline, it is important that your brand be:

• Unique, so as not to infringe on the established registered mark of another company
• Well-designed for appropriate flexibility (for various applications, including web)
• Accompanied by “brand standards” or “logomark usage guidelines”—so that all future designers, developers, printers, etc. clearly understand your expectations for how the logo(s) should be reproduced

Content Development

Proper content development begins offline through the development of an effective language by which your company speaks to the market. This language will be extended to all of your marketing collateral, including your web presence. The web consultant needs to understand the entire content development process as well as the value of appropriate content development—and not just from a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) standpoint.

Importance

Your web consultant must have a clear understanding of brand management concept and application so that he/she can properly identify the current brand development stage, provide appropriate advice if you need to backtrack in the brand development process before beginning web development (for your overall good and for web effectiveness), and then apply your brand across your web presence.

If there are holes in the brand development/management process which cannot be remedied at the time of web development, the web consultant needs to develop (or advise you in the development of) your web presence in such a manner that making brand changes will not be prohibitively difficult or expensive (to the extent possible).

CMS Extendibility, Portability, Scalability

First, your web consultant must have knowledge of the dividing line between functions that the CMS provides natively and what functions will need to be added by available plug-ins, extensions (etc.)—or through custom development.

Second, your web consultant must know to what extent your CMS data is portable in case you need to move it to another hosting location using the same CMS, or move it to another CMS altogether.

Third, your web consultant must know the scalability of the CMS and the hosting environment in which it is placed. In other words, the consultant should know the physical limitations of the web setup that he/she is recommending for your website.

Importance

These three areas of knowledge are important because they speak to your ability to use your web site as the center of your web presence, in a way that is durable, as your needs develop. The abilities of the CMS will dictate how you can use it to further online content syndication and social media interaction, as well as to develop new online tools as the market develops. To the extent possible, the CMS and the hosting environment in which it is placed should allow easy in-place growth or admit of rapid, inexpensive transition to a location with greater available resources.

Conclusion

Many web consulting firms or individual consultants do not have sufficient knowledge in the above-mentioned areas. When you find a firm that does have these capabilities, typically you will be moving into the mid-level tiers of consulting rates—you won’t be paying rock-bottom prices, but you won’t be receiving a sub-par solution.

Many buyers have the concern that such a web consulting firm will force them into a more robust solution than is needed at the buyer’s present state of development. Talking to a couple of reputable firms with the appropriate level of knowledge should help to assuage these concerns. The right firm will ascertain your current state of business development, supply you with the right roadmap, and then help with flexible and scalable solutions that will have you moving in the right direction.

These solutions need not be expensive (though “expensive” is certainly relative to budget and expectation). However, it is important to note that the development of your web presence is an investment in your future that cannot be skimped on—you will pay for the results (good or bad) at some point.

* For the sake of brevity, I chose only two critical issues. There are many.

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Facebook LinkedIn TwitThis

Page 1 of 1 pages