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How Building a Good Website Is Like Building a House

In December 2012, I took the bold decision to move town to Indianapolis from northwest Indiana to work in an industry that was quite foreign to me, web design.

After working at an Indianapolis website design company, NEXTFLY, for 3 years, which is a really stellar job, I decided that I would take a big jump into adulthood and purchase a house.

Buying the house was one of them most nerve-wracking experiences of my life, however, I knew I was doing all of the right things when I decided to build my house.

While in the process of the house build, I kept noticing many coalitions of home building and website building, which I figured I’d share with you.

1. Finding the right company requires research

The first step I took when building my house was to do research on multiple home building companies in the area. I looked at their ratings, reviews, house prices, the layouts and even talked to people from the companies to see what they had to say.

You should do the same thing when looking for a website company. Start off with a Google search of the top companies in Indianapolis (or the city that you might live in) and see what you can learn about them. Do they have website design projects they showcase? Do they have reviews or testimonials from clients? What different services do they offer? How does their website look? After you’ve done your research, get in touch with them! Fill out a website contact form, utilize their website’s chat functionality (if they have one), or give them a call!

2. Think about everything you want your website to do and find out the price!

Websites, much like home building, are not a one size fits all process. Everybody has their own set of needs and wants. For me, I wanted an open kitchen and nicely sized master bathroom, however, this might be different for another person you talk to. That is the same thing for companies looking to update their website. They will, most likely, have different home page designs and even different functionality. Due to this, it’s important to bring all of your desires to the table when talking to a website sales coordinator. They will, in turn, help you define the full scope of your website design project at a price point that will fit your specific budget.

3. Building a great website requires a great foundation

A great house foundation is critical, much like your website. A website design kick off meeting is an essential part of the website building process because it helps you build that foundation, in which the whole website design process will rely upon.

In your kick off meeting you’ll go over everything from website designs, that you like and dislike to the overall look and feel of the website and also it’s functionality.

In addition to discussing your website needs, the kick off meeting is also a great time for your company to touch base with the Project Manager of the web design company you are working with. That way, they get to know the personalities of your company and its wants and needs in the website design process in order to begin the process.

4. Open communication is essential in the website design process

One of the first weeks after we purchased our house, we had a meeting with the main contractor on our project. That contractor discussed the home-building process and told me he’d be touching base with me on a weekly basis to tell me where we are at with the building process.

With website design, the kick off meeting is a great way to get both teams acquainted with one another. It is also the beginning of the communication process between both teams, which is critical to the project’s success.

Getting to know each team’s personality and work ethic is critical to the website design process. You might get an understanding that a particular client won’t be able to stick to a routine due to busy day-to-day schedule, or you might discover that they are amazing at sticking at timelines and accomplishing any goals you send their way.

5. The end result will be more beneficial that you can even imagine

After living in an 800 square feet apartment for 3 years, I knew it was time for an upgrade. We had no storage, kept bumping into each other, and had to keep scraping the snow off our cars for hours during the winter! It was time for an upgrade!

The same can be said for your website. If you’ve been looking at the same website design that hasn’t been updated or functioning to it’s full capacity, it might be time for an upgrade for your Indianapolis business. With a content management system, you can get started on a simple design with a few pages to a lead-producing machine with multiple pages, blogs, testimonials, and more. You can promote all of your products and services in one place, becoming an expert in the industry.

All of that can be yours. It all starts with a goal and the drive. You ready to get started, contact our Indianapolis Web Design company today!