How Would You Manage A Brand New Website?

Our OM4 Tourism clients often have some computer experience. However, most are new to the technology used in self managed websites.

I certainly remember at the beginning all the new terminology was a bit daunting for me too. To help you through this we’ve tried to make our client resource information easy to understand.

The user forum is also a chance to ask questions and read posts by other people in the industry. Most of our clients find that their questions are answered in these two places.

Having said that we are always keen to find ways to make setting up your website as smooth as possible.

Recently I interviewed Wendy Payne from the Seahorse Sanctuary in Kalbarri to find out how she found the process of managing her new OM4 website.

Jane: What were your first impressions of the OM4Tourism website setup service?

Wendy: Very professional approach. I felt that I was in good hands and talking to people who really knew about website design.

Jane: Were there any issues that remained unclear to you in the planning stages?

Wendy: To be honest, there was a lot of computer language that I was fairly unfamiliar with, but all of the basics that I needed to understand were explained and this was done in a manner that was easy to understand.

Jane: How did you find the design phase? Were you happy with the result?

Wendy: Very easy - just answering a few questions and giving as much detail on the overall structure that I needed. Already having the structure of the overall website in our old website helped a lot at this stage, so that the new website was familiar in content, but sooooooo very different in presentation to our old website. The planning of the website design was so well done, that once the website was put together there was very little that I wanted to change.

Jane: When you began learning to upload content and images, did you find the task daunting, exciting, liberating? Did you have enough up-front support and encouragement to take the first steps?

Wendy: I like to be able to do things for myself, so tried doing the initial stuff by just following the information on how to upload content etc. It was daunting at first, but only because it was a new system that I haven’t used before. By the time I had my second session, things were beginning become clearer. The next thing I did was contact you so that you could run through it all with me. Having already played with the website design first, this session was more valuable as it made more sense already having a feel for the system.

Jane: What areas were the most challenging for you?

Wendy: Oh well, I’m not really very computer literate, so everything really. The instructions provided are clear and precise though, so once you beat your fear of computers into submission, the rest is easy. If you’re not continually working on your website, it’s easy to forget how to do individual modifications, so if I haven’t added anything on for a week or two, I’ve sometimes forgotten how I did that modification last time. No problem - the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Jane: What aspects of a website are most important for a business owner interested in marketing online?

Wendy: Definitely the overall professional image of the website design, but more importantly, the keyword search. If you don’t have this - you don’t have a website. It’s a bit embarrassing really, as we’ve had a website for 5 years, but it was really mostly being found by people that were looking for us specifically by name. The new website is helping so very much to gain business from people who’ve never heard of us. That’s very powerful!

Jane: Any other comments you would like to make?

Wendy: Just thankyou!!

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