Architecting Great Websites, Introduction

A website is about far more that just look and feel. It has to serve two distinct groups of users: your [potential] customers and your business. This is a very important distinction that is often overlooked by many website owners and website developers, because if your website fails to meet the needs of these groups of users, then your website will fail to deliver the results it has been built to achieve – whether these are greater sales, more leads, better customer service, or whatever the principle reason for the site happens to be (for now, we’ll assume that this key goal has already been identified, but that can be a lengthy process in itself).

In this series, we’ll look at the 7 key building blocks that make up a great website. All of these areas need to be reviewed in any website build to make sure that the right website is architected to meet the needs of your customers and your business, which are aligned with the business goal of the site. These 7 building blocks are:

• The User Interface
• Graphic Design
• The Site Engine
• Hosting
• Infrastructure
• Marketing, and
• Maintenance

By looking at each building block in the context of your business goals, your customers and your business, the best website solution can be determined which provides the best return on investment at your current stage in your business development.