Preparing for your first web site.

Regardless of the size of your organization there are a few pieces of information you should gather before you approach any web development firm. Not only are these gems crucial to the mental well being of your chosen web designer, but they are necessary for the success of your web site. Show up at the initial meeting with the answers to the following 5 questions and you'll have the design team on board and ready to roll in no time.

  1. Who is your intended audience? – Any successful business knows the answer to this question. You don't get to be successful by trying to sell to the wrong people. If you're just starting the answer may not be obvious. Try and narrow it down by creating a series of categories and then define your audience in each category as best you can. eg. ( categories - age, gender, race, religion, geographic location, income, etc. )
  2. What are you trying to say to them? Are you simply imparting information about yourself (or your business or organization)? Are you trying to teach your audience about a topic or skill? Are you trying to sell a product? Are you trying to gather information about your audience? Ideally, your web site will be trying to do some or all of the above. Don't focus blindly on one aspect of your web site and ignore the others. Presenting your audience with a comprehensive, informative site increases your credibility and the chance that they'll return and/or tell someone else about the site. Chances are, if you're trying to sell a product, you'll need to give some information about that product (educate your audience), provide some information about you or your organization and you'll need to learn something about your audience before you can complete the transaction. Think like someone visiting your site. What would you like to learn from the web site?
  3. What would you like the visitors to your site do? Otherwise known as the "call to action". If you want your audience to buy something, ask them to buy, If you want them to contact you, ask. If you want them to learn more, show them where they can learn more. If you want to learn more about your audience, ask them to tell you.
  4. What is the tone of your site?. Silly, somber, hip, conservative, cheerful? Colour and font choices for your site may depend on how you wish to present yourself.
  5. Who can help you?. Are there web sites you can link to? Do you belong to clubs, organizations or associations that mesh with the purpose of your web site. Suppliers, customers, colleagues, just about anyone who has a web site and a relationship with your business or organization may be an appropriate link on your site.