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A really great place to start when planning your web site project is to keep the Five Big W's in mind: Who, What, Where, When, and Why?
Who will your typical visitors to your web site be? List any information you think may be relevant such as age, gender, income, political affiliation, education level, ethnicity, primary language, religion, location, etc. Study your target audience. Try to picture yourself in your audience's shoes. What do they like? Not sure? Look at some of your competitors! Check out their sites to see how they appeal to their target audiences. What are they doing right? What needs improvement?
What do you hope to accomplish with this web site? Is your hope to educate, sell, entertain, survey, generate data bases, provide a forum for discussion, answer frequently asked questions (FAQ), provide unique help or information to others, or a combination of all of these? As you plan your web site remember each web page should have an objective, but within the constraints of the Web site's purpose. If you aren't sure how to proceed look at other web sites on the Internet for ideas. Look at the categories in different search engines for examples of audience interests and follow some of these links to actual web sites.
Getting your business website up and running on the Internet is one thing. Getting it noticed is another. Based on your target audience, where can you promote your site? The more obvious and important -> make sure to print your website address on your business cards, stationary, memos and even billboards. Less obvious -> have you considered banner exchanges, link exchanges, signature files and discussion lists?
Note: Kestrel Designs can help you develop Meta Tags and rating tags and then submit your site to the major search engines. Please see our Maintain page for more information.)
When do you want to start your site? How frequently will this site need to have information updated? Daily, weekly, twice a month, monthly? Who will be responsible for updates and for checking the site periodically to make sure it is still working properly?
What is your Company’s Objective or Mission Statement? (If you do not have one, what is the nature of your business?) How do you envision this project supporting your company’s missions and objectives? How will you judge the success of this project?
(Want to know even more? View our What Can a Well-Designed Web Site Do article.)
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