Things to think about when planning your website
Here are some things to think about when planning your website:
Planning
- What advantages would you like to gain from your website?
- What disadvantages do you think you may encounter?
- How do you plan to overcome those disadvantages?
Target Market
- Who is your primary target market?
- Who are the main customers you wish to reach?
- Who is your secondary target market? (If any)
- To whom do you sell or want to reach primarily? Other businesses or to the general public?
- How will your website compare to the way your business / organization currently operates?
- Are you planning an online brochure to enhance your marketing or showcase your product / service?
- Would you like to receive orders and sell merchandise over the internet?
Setup
- Have you selected a domain name for your website? Is it currently registered?
- Will your site need a security certificate?
- Will you be processing credit card transactions?
Advertising and Promotion
- How will you generate demand for your product or service?
- Will you offer banner ad space?
- Will you offer referrer bonuses?
- Will you offer contest-based promotions?
- Will you offer coupons for using the website?
- Will you be participating in e-mail marketing?
- On what other media will you be advertising your business?
- Will you be adding your website information to that media?
Customer Service
- Who will be answering e-mail generated by the website?
- Will your customers have a phone number at which you can be reached on the website?
Functionality
Which functional features should your website offer? Consider:
- e-commerce/shopping cart
- site search
- customer service/support
- tech support
- discussion forums
- newsletter
- catalog/information
- order forms
- feedback form
- member logon
- password protected areas
- SSL-encrypted areas
Information
Which informational elements should your site contain? Consider:
- about us page
- contact us page
- copyright notice
- privacy statement
- disclaimer
- sitemap