Millions of new websites are launched each year, and millions close down. Most are destined to fail at educating customers, selling products and services, generating PR, or even just improving your branding efforts. Why? Lack of planning. Most website are just thrown together with little thought or guidance from the business owner.
Proper planning can help ensure that your website meets the objectives you set. If you think through the goals you have online and how you plan on getting there, you can greatly increase your chances of achieving those goals.
Below is a planning guide to use BEFORE you spend any money on the actual development of your site. These questions will help you work with your web developer to come up with accurate timeframes and a working budget for the project.General
What are your website expectations (higher sales, more leads, etc.)?
When do you need the new site up?Audience
To whom is the site directed? (Current clients, new clients, partners, etc.?)
What are the specific industries the site needs to address?
What do you ultimately want visitors to your site to do (call you, send an e-mail, complete a form, etc.)?Uniqueness
What about your site will make it different from the competition?Functionality
What do you need the site to do? List all of the core functions the site needs to include.
What forms will the site include (request a quote, contact us, etc.)?
What pieces of information are required to be gathered on these forms?
To whom should the information gathered be sent?
Will information gathered on this site need to be accessible via reports in a specific format?
Will leads generated need to be automatically put into other databases?
Will visitors to the site need access to their order history or other database functions?
Will there be any payment acceptance online?
Will you maintain a blog, or other type of self published content on the site?
Does the site need to include forums or message boards?Branding
How does it relate to your branding strategy?
Will you use your existing logo, and will it need to be modified in any way?
In what format will you provide the logo and existing graphics to your web developer?
Should the site match the “look and feel” of your existing marketing materials?
What domain name will be used for the site?
Are there alternate domains (common misspellings, alternate company names, etc.) you have?
What additional domains will you need to register?Design
What sites do you like the look and feel of?
What sites do you NOT like?
Do you have a preference on navigation on the site being on the top, left side, or other location?
Are there particular colors that should be used?
Are there particular colors that should be avoided?
Are there particular fonts that should be used?
Are there particular fonts that should be avoided?Content
How many pages will the site consist of?
What are these pages?
Will all copy be provided, or will your developer write some of this for you?
Will you need to shoot any photographs for this site?
In what format will images be provided?
Do you have any video content you wish to include?
Will you need to shoot any videos for your site?Visibility
Who do you want to find your site?
How do you want them to find you?
What keywords do you hope people will use to find you in search engines?
Have you budgeted for an Internet ad campaign?Hosting
Will this site maintain its existing host?
Will your e-mail remain with your existing e-mail service?Marketing
How many e-mail newsletter templates will be created?
How many e-mail lists do you have? (Customers, partners, etc.)
How many e-mail addresses are on each of these lists?
In what format do you have these e-mail addresses?I hope these items help you with your web construction efforts. Please call or e-mail me with any comments or questions.This article was written by SBA Network Sales Technology specialist Matt Walker. You can reach him at 714-269-4123 or mwalker@sbanetwork.org.Care to submit an article or just have a comment? Email me at: mark@markdeo.comHave a great week!-Mark Deo