moonlitecreative.com

When I meet with a new client for their initial website or blog consultation, I typically find that most clients’ main objectives are to quickly find out how much their site will cost and how soon it will be live. However, in order for me to accurately answer those questions, meet their business goals, make their site as SEO-friendly as possible, and have their site be cost effective for them I normally need to assist most clients with some additional planning first. That planning generally includes helping them work through these 10 steps:

Step #1: Determine the Purpose of the Site
Is the purpose of your site to directly sell products or services online, or is it more of online brochure to generate interest in your company with the hopes of having visitors contact you for more information?

Step #2: Determine Your Audience
Who do you hope to target with your site? “Everyone” is not a good answer. Pinpoint your audience so your site speaks directly to them.

Step #3: Research the Competition
Spend some time on your competitors’ sites and analyze what you think is working for them and what you would do differently. Then be sure to make your site your own to stand out amongst your competition.

Step #4: Brainstorm General Content Ideas for Your Site
Jot down a rough list of the type of content you think you will want on your site.

Step #5: Determine What Dynamic Site Features You Want Included Your Site
Will your site require some more interactive features such as: online estimating, shopping cart, interactive calendar, widgets, blog, photo gallery, pulldowns, newsletter signup, portfolio, contact forms, FLASH, etc.?

Step #6: Develop a Site Map
The next step involves “mapping out” the framework by creating the “Site Map” by taking all the content/features from your lists from steps #4 & #5 and organizing them into a flow chart, outline, or spread sheet indicating what content/features will be on each page and what sub-pages will stem off of each main menu page or heading.

Step #7: Provide Some Direction for Design of Site
If you have printed marketing materials established already and want to keep your brand identity consistent, you should definitely supply these for your web designer to help guide the design process. Other ways to help provide insight on the design is to look at various website templates (Template Monster has thousands you can review) or other actual websites you like (or don’t like) and give your developer very specific feedback about them. Providing clear direction on what you do and don’t like in website design will not only expedite your site’s design process greatly, but in many cases, save you a great deal of money.

Step #8: Determine Your Content Management System (CMS) Needs
Do you anticipate making changes to your site on a fairly regular basis? If so, having a CMS to allow you to easily make the edits yourself is definitely something you should plan for upfront because certain CMS systems require that the entire site is built in a certain way for the system to work. Therefore, fine tuning what you foresee needing updated frequently upfront will help your web developer with setting up your site for the CMS best suited for your particular needs.

Step #9: Develop a Timeline
You know when you want to launch your site and your developer can help you set a timeline to help you achieve this. In addition to all the work your developer will be doing on the site, there will be a lot of work for you to do as well with making decisions, providing content, etc. You will both need to stick to timelines established throughout the process in order for you to meet your launch deadline.

Step #10: Determine Your Budget
You know what your marketing budget is and your developer knows what it will take to build the site you plan for in steps 1-9. If your developer’s bid comes in higher than what you had anticipated, talk to your developer. A lot of times, there are alternative ways to achieve what you want and still stay well within your budget.

Related posts:

1. Is a CMS a Good Fit for My Website?