Here’s a quick 10 point guide to a new design and build project:

1. Planning: A strong planning exercise is crucial to produce a successful website.

2. Segmentation: group your website users by establishing their attitudes and needs. This removes subjectively and provides a basis against which to test ideas and designs.#

3. Prototyping: build and circulate a clickable browser-based prototype to all stakeholders. It’s more interactive than a wireframe and helps to align thinking at this early stage.

4. Specifications: define the exact functionality of the site point by point to ensure everyone is working from the same understanding.

5. Design: take the logo and your best offline collateral and embrace the potential of developing the brand online. You’ll undoubtedly create ideas than can be reflected offline too.

6. Build: the key here is to select the right platform, so that you are configuring technology to your needs rather than building it from scratch.

7. Web platform: for greater longevity of the website, select a content management system which gives you complete control and flexibility, with a degree of automation.

8. Hosting: cloud hosting is still not perfect, but it’s better than the alternative. It’s time to embrace the cloud.

9. Support: ensure you agree a plan for website and hosting support for the outset. It’s your lifeline once you’re live.

10. Online marketing: this should be considered during planning, design and build and is integral to the ongoing success of the website.

Then go live! This is when the work really starts – track, review, improve...