When I design a new website, there are certain things I want to know about the project, otherwise I’m just designing something that looks pretty. And I think that pretty design for the sake of pretty design can be pretty ineffective. Here are five things I want to know before I start a new website:
- What is the purpose of this website?
Sometimes this is self-explanatory, but it’s always good to hear what you think. I want to know why this new website is important to your business. Is this “keeping up with the Jones’s” strategy? Do you feel you just want something as opposed to nothing? Do you see this as critical to your business? - What are the goals for this project?
I believe that in order for the site to be successful, I need to understand what your goals are. Knowing what your goals are is the only way I can help you achieve them. Do you want the website to increase sales of a certain type of product? Do you want to be able to use this as an ancillary resource you can direct phone calls to? How do you see this helping your business? - What action do you want people to take when they visit your website?
If you don’t know what you want people to do when they visit your site, you won’t get the response you’re looking for. On my site, I want visitors to read my blog and subscribe to my blog’s updates. Do you want people to pick up the phone and call you? Do you want them to fill out a contact form? Download a free informational packet? Buy something? Without a defined action step, I can’t help steer people in the right direction. - What’s your story?
I want to know why your company does what it does. In order to create a successful communication product, it’s important for me to understand what it is that I’m trying to communicate. I want to know where you’ve been, how you got here, and where you plan to go. - What makes you so great? (Seriously!)
I want to know what you’re passionate about and what it is you feel you do better than anyone else around. This is probably (hopefully) what your customers see, and this is what should be communicated through the website. Why are you the best at what you do? What makes your organization unique?
I obviously ask more than five questions when creating a website, but these are five important ones that I think sometimes get overlooked. When I create a website, my goal is to give you the best possible end product, and the only way I know how to do that is by helping you achieve your goals.
Related: Websites, like life, need purpose
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