Begin With A Plan

Don’t invest in a website without a plan!

Too often people decide they need a website to market their company or organization online so they buy a template that looks like it will work well and begin adding content without thinking through the fundamentals. Without properly formulating a plan they forge ahead and end up with a jumbled mess. Don’t let that be you!

A top ranking website optimized for online marketing begins right here with these basic questions.

    What's your name?

    What's the name of your business or organization?

    Do you already have a website?

    Yes  No

    What's the web address?

    How may we contact you?

    Email:

    Phone:

    Tell us about your business or organization

    Tell us a little about your business or organization. In order to create quality work we need to know as much as we can about our clients so that we can catch their vision and build something that will truly reflect their personality, dreams, and passion.

    Why do you need a website?

    A good website begins with answering the question, why? Since the web is mostly a platform for communication, before doing anything else you need to know what you want to communicate on your website.

    If you're struggling to answer this question, feel free to check out this post in our small business resources section of our website. It will give you lots of ideas about how to answer this vital question

    What do you hope the user will do?

    One of the most important aspects of a website is what's called a Call To Action (CTA). A CTA calls the users attention to do something. An example of a CTA is a call button that when they visit your site on their smart phone it will automatically call you when they click the button. Do you have a newsletter? Then you'll want a CTA to get your users to sign up for it. Are you teaching a class? Do you have a product to sell? Anything like this can be converted into a CTA which is the way you convert people on the web.

    How do we plan to get them to do this?

    Perhaps you said you want people to like your Facebook page, subscribe to your newsletter, or check out a special offer. Those are all great things, but knowing what your CTA is going to be is not enough. Now you need to think about how you might be able to get them to do what you want them to. You may be thinking, Isn't that the web designer's job, to know the tools that will get them to do what I want them to do? The answer is, ABSOLUTELY, but it's important that you have some ideas to bring to the table so that we can collaborate together and make your website truly yours. Any ideas?

    Who is your target audience/user?

    Next, it's time to define your target audience. A well designed website needs to have a well defined profile of your users. Your product or service is likely geared to a specific group of people whether it be teens, adults, single parents, etc. These are the people we are trying to reach, so every element needs to be geared toward that audience.

    Geographic Location

    What are, or will be, the geographic locations of your customers/clients? Some examples might be United States, West Coast, Southern India, Eastern Europe. Be as specific as you can.

    Age

    Another key factor is age. Will you be trying to reach children or retirees, teenagers or young parents. Different age groups will necessitate very different approaches. Check one or more of the following:

    Rural or Urban

    Will your customers/clients primarily live in urban, suburban or rural? Check one or more of the following:

    Gender

    Do you deal with more men then women?

    Ethnolinguistic Group

    What language(s) will most of your customers/clients use? List each language if your target market is multilingual.

    Socioeconomic Status

    What social and economic status will most of your customers/clients come from?

    Other (Unique) Commonalities

    What are some of the other characteristics that unify your target market? Do they tend toward a specific style of music? Lean toward a political affiliation? Have a common hobby interest?

    What kind of timeline do you have in mind?

    Our clients often have deadlines. Even if that's not the case, we always like to shoot for a target date. When would you like to see your project completed?

    I need my project completed by:

    Month:

    Day:

    Year:

    Did we miss anything?

    Perhaps there is something else about your future website you want us to know. Before you hit the submit button, go ahead and make any general comments here.