04/ 15/ 2002
Far too often small businesses compromise on the initial planning and design of their Web sites because they're anxious to get the site up and running--and because they want to spend as little money as possible before sales revenue starts coming in. But software designers emphatically encourage Web site owners to take the time (and spend the extra money) to allow the creation of scalable applications that will enable the site to expand easily. In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses discusses the importance of allowing sufficient time and money to create a solid foundation for your Web site that will serve you for years.
If your Web site's initial design is scalable, you'll save a lot of extra effort and money down the road. An eCommerce site may host only a dozen or so visitors at first, but that number can quickly grow to hundreds and even thousands of visitors. When the site's programming is scalable from its inception, then ramping up to handle such volume and diversity may require only tweaking the existing code, which costs less time and money than having to make dramatic alterations or additions.
Many business owners become frustrated during a Web site's planning and design process because it seems that little progress is being made. But remember that designers need time to plan the overall foundation of a site. When the foundation is stable and well thought out, all other aspects of the site can function in a solid, integrated way.
Here are a few scalable aspects you might want to discuss with your designer. Though you may not need them today, you'll be glad you thought of these things as your business grows:
- Product catalogues
- Customer database
- Search capabilities
- Product recommendations, based on customers' former sales or interests
- Forms for credit card transactions
- Security features
