Developing a website – first steps

If you are planning to develop a website you need to put together a clear brief before you approach a web developer. This should include the following:

Target audiences
In line with the Transformational Government Strategy, which seeks to reduce the number of public websites, area partnership websites should primarily target practitioners, partners and stakeholders. The target cohort and parents should be directed to Directgov. For more information view the National Communications Strategy.

Structure and content
It is important to understand your users’ needs so that you can create a site they will want to visit. Try to talk to members of the target audience about what content and functionality they would find useful. A web developer will help you to develop a site structure but you should have a clear idea of the types of information that will need to be included.

Administration/passwords
Think about which people will be responsible for administering the content on the site. If you need all users to be able to post information to the site you will need to specify this. Also consider whether all or part of the site needs to be password-protected for confidentiality reasons.

Functionality
A basic Content Management System (CMS) will allow you to post information about news and events on your site and to include downloadable documents. Consider whether you require any additional functionality such as discussion forums or email alerts as this will add to the cost of development.

Design
The website will need to be designed for maximum accessibility and the Aimhigher logo should be visible on every page of the site. Web developers should refer to the brand guidelines for more information.

You may also find it useful to look at examples of Aimhigher partnership websites  for inspiration and to read through the good practice advice.

The Aimhigher partnership website administration team offers Aimhigher partnerships the opportunity to develop websites using their Content Management System (CMS). This is a straightforward and cost-effective way of creating a website without getting bogged down in technical issues. Click on the link to find out more about the web development support available.