I don’t know why I want a website.

Picture this scenario:

You decide it's time for a new car, so off you go to your local car dealer where the sales rep sees you coming from a mile away and comes out to greet you.

Sales Rep: "Morning! How can I help?"

You: "I want a car"

Sales Rep: "Okay, so what are you looking for? "

You: "A car!"

Sales Rep: "Yes but what exactly are you looking for?"

You: "I don't know, isn't that your job to tell me? I just know I want a car!"

It sounds crazy doesn't it, but as a website developer, I can assure you that I encounter similar situations all the time!

Websites are not cheap and often involve a large investment of time and finances, yet so many businesses/people want one without thinking about what they want, what it should do or how to measure the success of the solution.

Often the thinking is that the website developer should tell you what you want, when in reality, you know your business like no-one else, you know your goals and objectives. The job of the website developer is simply to advise you of the most effective way to reach those goals and implement solutions which will help you to achieve and measure the success.

So if you are in the market for a website, answering these questions before you go to a developer may save you time and money!

Reasons for Development

• What are your primary business objectives with the website and what are your secondary objectives? (Examples include increased sales, marketing/branding awareness, etc)
• What is the main business problem you hope to solve with the website?
• How will you measure the success of the solution?

Audience

• What is the primary action the site visitor should take? (make a purchase, make an enquiry, call you, search for information, etc)
• What are the key reasons why your target audience chooses your company's products and/or services?

Perception

• How is your company currently perceived offline?
• Do you want to carry the same kind of message/look/feel through your website?
• How does your company differentiate itself from your competitors?

There are of course many more questions that could and should be answered, but these are a good start!