So you’ve decided that the time has come to get a website of your own and get your company online. That is excellent news. However, before we jump into getting your website developed and designed, you need to ask yourself the most important question, “What are the goals of your website?”. That is, what do you hope to achieve by having a website?
This question is imperative as it will define the type of website you have, the budget and resources you can assign to it, and whether it was worth it.

Will your website server just to provide some contact details (email address and phone numbers) and a map of your location. Will it let people find out more about your company and it’s history? Will it provide details of the products or services you sell? Will people actually be able to order and pay for these products/services on the website?
These are all very important questions you need to take some time to consider. Knowing what the goals are for your website will enable you to get a more accurate idea on how much you should be spending on it and what you should expect from the website.
Typically my advice is, even if ultimately you would like people to buy from your website, start small. Get a simply website up that displays the products/services you offer and enable people to contact you about these items. Then once you’ve seen that enough people are interested in purchasing from you online, you can go ahead and get an ecommerce website built (with merchant accounts etc).

I hope this has helped. Don’t take it too seriously and spend hours trying to analyse every aspect, Merely sit down and right down your reasons for wanting a website and what you would hope to achieve from having one.