Planning a New Website – Part 1

Businesses that are building a new website or redesigning an existing one should allocate the proper time and resources into planning. By just jumping into the project without the necessary planning, there may be any number of ways that the final product does not maximize its potential.

Planning is common for large-scale corporate projects, but many times smaller businesses try to tackle the project without dedicating the amount of thought that it deserves. Sometimes the planning is essentially left up to the designer, which is not usually in the best interest of the client. A designer doesn’t know your business as well as you do, nor does he/she know the specific goals that you want your website to accomplish. These things need to be thought out and communicated to whoever is designing the site.

Things to Consider During the Planning Process:

1. What Are Your Goals?

You want a website for a reason, so make sure you have a solid understanding of specifically what it is that you want to accomplish. Your goals should be considered in almost every decision that’s made along the way.

2. How Do You Want the Business to Benefit from the Website?

Your answer to this question will help to determine the content of the site. Are you primarily interested in increasing revenue by selling products online? Are you looking to increase the exposure of your business online? Do you have a portfolio that you want potential customers to be able to see?

3. What is Your Budget?

Websites come in a very wide range of prices. You need to know how much you are willing to spend to achieve the goals that you have established. In addition to budgeting money, you should also budget your time (or someone in your company’s time). This project will require communication with the designer and a lot of information will need to be prepared (if it hasn’t already been prepared).

4. How Will the Site Represent Your Corporate/Business Image?

Your business’s website should be one piece in the company’s marketing plan, and it should reflect a message that is consistent with your other marketing efforts. Anything that is a standard part of your marketing (logo, colors, slogans, etc.) should be used and presented on the website.

Many people today will go to the internet first when they are researching a company. A website should be a vital source of information for anyone wanting to know more about your business.

5. What Do You Want Visitors to be Able to Gain from Your Website?

The aspects of planning that we have looked at so far have focused on you and your company. Don’t forget to also include your visitors and customers in the planning. What will they want from your website? How can you make the website a valuable resource for them? Every effort should be made to create a user-focused website that will truly be an asset for both you and your visitors.

6. What Will Keep Visitors Coming Back?

Getting visitors is just one part of having a successful website. Repeat visitors will be much more likely to buy from you and become loyal customers. Your website has to have something that will make them want to come back.

Blogs are becoming more and more common as a means for businesses to communicate with their customers and gain repeat traffic. A blog allows you to easily add new content whenever you want, and it allows your visitors/customers to subscribe to an RSS feed that will help them to stay up-to-date with your business.

7. Where Will the Information/Text Come from?

The information on your website needs to come from somewhere. If you already have other marketing materials, such as brochures, you may be able to use some of this content that has already been created. Too often the actual content is overlooked during the design process, and sometimes important pieces of information are either forgotten or left up to the designer to include. Don’t leave important decisions about the content of your site to designers. Make sure that it is given the proper amount of attention in order to make the site effective.

8. What Domain Name Will You Use?

The domain name is a huge part of the planning process that sometimes gets rushed. A domain name needs to represent your business and be easily remembered by your visitors. Generally shorter domain names are prefered, and .com extensions are more likely to be remembered than other options (unless your business is a non-profit, educational, or government institution). For help finding a domain name, see our post 8 Tools to Help You Find the Right Domain Name.

Stay tuned for Part 2.