Web Topics: Strategic Planning
The successful web site is built on a thorough analysis and understanding of needs. Asking some basic questions will help determine the direction on your site. The very first thing to do is to define your targeted audience. Here are some basic questions to help assist your process:
- Why are they coming to the site and what are their expectations?
- What is their level of expertise in your field?
- Are they existing customers, are they staff, or are they surfers looking to gain knowledge?
- Do they come with expectations?
- Will the site offer products and services, customer support, or simply serve as a company "presence" on the web.
Interwoven with determining your target audience is exploring your market segment and what motivates your users. This will directly affect your marketing strategy, copywriting, level of interactivity, and promotional efforts. Some of the questions are:
- What is the purpose of your site?
- What is your site's mission?
- Will you need to have content developed? An online application?
- Are you selling a product or service?
- Who is your specific audience?
- Who is your viewer?
- Why are they coming to the site and what are their expectations?
- What is their level of expertise in your field?
- Do they come with expectations?
- What are your web site needs?
- Do you want it to be ADA compliant?
It is important to answer these questions, and more, and to perform an in depth analysis of your web site strategy first. This is the basis for building your site. The more upfront planning, the smoother your project.