Planning A Website
So you want a website, but you have no clue how to begin. It's not uncommon
to be overwhelmed by the development process. Building a website requires
technical skill, strategic planning and a thorough understanding of your
audience and objectives.
Before you begin, answer the following questions:
1) Who's your audience?
Take your time answering this one. It will define everything from site colors,
design themes and structure as well as content. Imagine your most typical user.
Is it an overworked housewife looking to make a convenient purchase just after
putting the kids to bed? Or perhaps a teenage boy looking for help using a new
tech toy. Remember, successful sites are designed for the user not for the
owner.
2) What are your site goals?
Reaching out to customers with answers to frequently asked questions is very
different from offering a e-commerce store. It's customary to see cross-breeding
of goals in a site, but keeping your number one goal in focus at all times helps
avoid alienating your site's users and undersupporting development in key areas.
3) What is your budget?
This is key to understanding what sort of site you can plan and support until
its able to support itself. Be honest with yourself and your designer. Designers
usually suggest ways to work within your budgetary constraints.
4) What content are you using?
For informational sites, brochures and PR content you have already created for
your business can be easily adapted for the web. If additional content is
needed, you may wish to hire writers, purchase content sharing services, or
create your own.
5) How do you define success?
This might be a reduction of calls to your customer service department, and
increase in client queries, or online orders. Page hit counts and may help a
webmaster determine site activity in a certain area, but it is not a clear
indication of site usefulness.
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