For the site you have in mind (which is then similar to 90 percent of Italian websites) I'll tell you something a little outside the box:
the website you want can be yours for free!
Obviously mine is a bit of a provocation, but if you want the classic institutional website to be left on the Internet without updates for years and waiting for someone to accidentally notice it(as mentioned in this previous article) you might be better off creating a page on a social network like linked-in or facebook for free.
If, on the other hand, you are a "visionary" and want to differentiate yourself from the crowd then continue reading, perhaps you will find some advice.
Creating a custom website is a task to budget for a variety of reasons:
- As said before: it has to be done well otherwise leave it alone;
- you have to spend a lot of time on it, and there are many professionals involved;
- you have to focus and discuss every little detail.
- you can't leave it to its own devices but you have to work on it constantly (but that's just the characteristic of winners)
The philosophy that you must always keep in mind is that if you want to reach certain levels first you must give then receive.
This ideology + always the one that appeals; in order for your site to catch on, you will need to highlight your core feature and make your expertise available to your customers (or potential customers).
You must see your website as your own branch (the one visible to the greatest number of people); how much would you like to have a bare branch, with no personality and with people who do not solve the problems for which any patrons have come?
Now let's look at the macro steps and people involved in order to create an appealing showcase.
1. Pre-requisite analysis
Usually an initial analysis is done to establish the requirements and ambitions that the project wants to achieve. These meetings will be conducted by the client, a web-designer and possibly a technician (or programmer or project manager).
Such a meeting will serve to explain to these people who you are, what you do, and most importantly what image you aspire to. It is usually a 4-hour meeting where the various participants contribute their past experiences.
2. Vision setting graphics
Graphics (through mock-ups) of the eventual website may be proposed. Proposals may be of various types (colors, graphics, remaking of some logos, etc.) and will be aimed at the creation of the corporate brand (if not already present) or adaptation of the current one.
Such a meeting may be repeated because it is the one that will lay the foundation for your home.
Be careful not to spread this phase too far out in time: it would be useful to conclude it within 30 days (maximum 45).
3. Beta site vision
With a well-defined structure, the various menu items of the site (and contextually also the navigability of the site on various devices) will be analyzed and all text discussed with a copy-writer.
Structure and navigability will be critical to that "secret" file that will allow the various search engines to index your Web site in the best way possible.Any keywords to be associated with the site should be highlighted in order to possibly help the computer engines.
Beware that we are not talking about SEO indexing (I don't believe much in the elixir of "I'll put you on the first page if you give me tot-thousand euros).Remember well:
the only way to be sure to be on the first page of Google is to pay Google with a marketing campaign (pay per click).
Do not trust the characters who want to sell you "tricks"-if they knew, they would be billionaires or work for Google.
This meeting will also be extended to several meetings so that everything can be analyzed in great detail.
4. Final vision, google analitycs and article management
Having the structure and texts well defined, the main parts will have to be analyzed, what will make the website YOURS.
Each site should be able to be managed entirely by you; content should be decided by you because no one knows you better and knows what your customers or possible customers are looking for.
Publish content (articles) that your customers are looking for; to do this, analyze (or have professionals analyze) your competitors' sites.
Tie each article to the analytics data that Google provides. You will always be able to see what attracts and what doesn't; try to increase the time people spend on your site.
Help them to find you and when they are at your place give helpful advice.
Conclusions
As you can imagine making a "serious" site involves great effort and well-structured planning. You can decide to follow it entirely or defer to experts who will work best to be able to provide you with solutions to your needs.
The cost varies greatly depending on how far you want to "push" and how much the site will evolve over time with various content.
Create original contributions (GIVE) so you can turn visits into customers (RECEIVE) and remember: doing one thing well is never wrong.
