8 Questions to Ask Before Designing Your Website

When sitting down to design (or re-design) your website, you might feel like you are playing a game show…. “I’ll take what is behind curtain number 3”.

With the plethora of choices out there, from a blog site to a full-featured custom site, how do you begin to choose what is right for you?

Before you begin to design your site, you will want to ask yourself these 8 questions:

1. Who is my target audience?
   Rate them on a scale of 1-10:
   (Conservative)  1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 (Edgy)
2. How much updating do I want to do personally on my site?
   Rate the amount on a scale of 1-10:
   (Update Everything) 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 (Hands Off)
3. What is the purpose of your website?
   __ Entertainment
   __ Increase Sales
   __ Increase Corporate Brand, Product Recognition
   __ Improve Internal Communication
   __ Reduce Customer Service Calls
   __ Increase Prospective Customer Base
4. What type of interactivity would you like on your website?
5. What adjectives should best describe your website?
6. Would you like animation or video incorporated into your website?
7. What is your number one business problem?  How could a new website assist you in solving this problem?
8. What is your website budget?

If you would like to be completely “hands-on” with your website, then a WordPress blog site might be the best solution for you.  However, if you answered “hands-off” or have custom database, or other specialty needs, that a full-featured custom website (or something in between) might be the solution for you.

Your website is your “on-line home”, it is important to think about how you want your environment. 

Not only what works best for you, but most importantly – your target market… will they be comfortable visiting your site, stay a while and tell their friends all about you?

Your website is your online home. Think about how you want your environment.

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Remember, web sites are an ever-evolving process.  They should be kept updated (either by you or your web designer) to keep your target audience engaged and returning to find out more.

Web sites are an ever-evolving process.

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It is important to answer these questions before designing your site.  This way, there is a clear road-map to the solution that is right for you.  That way you won’t feel like you are playing the Web Site Game Show, choosing blindly what is behind curtain number 3.