Website development is not just about coding. Programmers are the last people to get involved! Like any serious undertaking you need to plan it and the most important part of that plan is defining what outcome you want and what needs to be done to achieve it. We call it analysing your requirements. We look at the big picture – your business – before we start talking about the little picture – your site …

Pretty as a picture right? Has to be flashier than the competition? Sure? What your site looks like is important – very important – it decides whether first time visitors stay. But how easy it is to use for your visitors is the most important factor as it decides if they become customers. And what tools it has for getting that customer to return determines if they become repeat customers…

Websites are easy things to develop. I mean kids can do it. You just download osCommerce, change a few graphics and there you have it – a new online store! Just add water and stir kind of thing. A bit like the Eva Gabor/Green Acres approach to cooking. Sure kids can cook. I don’t know about you but I’d rather sit down to a meal prepared by a qualified chef …

You know what your website should do – you told your developers. So they should test it, not you! Right? Actually no. Wrong. Developers can test programs, only users can truly a site. Just like proof-reading your own writing, it is impossible for a programmer to fully test her own code. That is why there are several levels of test: program, site and user testing.

Going live is just the beginning, not the end. Websites are not set and forget. Things are always changing. Bugs are found. Security patches are needed. New versions are released. Hosting environments change. Not to mention customer expectations about new or improved functionality. Website owners who keep their sites “fresh” keep their customers.