Five basic components that make great websites

Every web agency that you work with is different, and is likely to lean towards 2 or 3 of these areas more strongly than the others. If you’re comparing costs, quality or project outcomes – it makes sense to take this into account.

Technology – the engine behind the site – your CMS (Wordpress, Joomla), bespoke features, enquiry forms, back-end integration etc.

Project management – the clever part that makes the whole thing come together – the requirements gathering, content plan, big idea, deployment and launch.

Of the five, the most misunderstood is content. It’s the ingredients in our metaphorical recipe, and it’s often overlooked in favour of ‘web design’ which is merely presentation.

Project management can be attributed to running the restaurant – nobody is happy with shoddy service, or a cold plate beneath that fillet mignon. On it goes – design is the presentation of the dish – you can mask a rough meal with style, but that facade crumbles when it’s tasted.

If you’re able to produce a detailed brief, covering all of the above areas then this is a bonus. Otherwise it may be prudent to employ a consultant or agency to define your requirements independently, before you begin. Although this may incur a cost, it will increase the quality of your brief – and increase the likelihood of a successful project. Leon Calverley Managing director, Door4