Planning a Business Website: Eight Questions Before Building

Eight questions to define your website's goal, audience, messages and enquiry journey, connecting the build with business needs.
Planning a Business Website: Eight Questions Before Building

Before choosing colours, images or a template, define what the website should do for your business. Clear planning connects the audience, offer and content and gives every page a purpose.

You do not need to start with a complicated document. Begin with short answers to these questions, then use them to plan the structure, messages and contact options.

What should your website plan define?

  • What is the main goal? Enquiries, orders, registration and sharing information need different journeys. Choose a primary action for each page.
  • Who is the website for? Define the audience and the question bringing them there. Write for them, not only from the business’s perspective.
  • What exactly does the business offer? Present services clearly, explaining who they suit and what the process includes.
  • Why choose this business? Use advantages you can show and explain. Experience, a working process or a specialism are more useful than general superlatives.
  • What information is needed before getting in touch? Look at recurring customer questions and decide where to answer them on the website.
  • What is the next step? Define a call to action, a short form or a convenient contact option. Explain what happens after the enquiry.
  • What happens to the enquiry? Decide who receives it, where it is saved and how follow-up is tracked. The website should connect with the work that follows it.
  • How will we know the website helps? Choose measures suited to the goal, such as relevant enquiries or orders, and review them alongside the quality of conversations and the process.
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More food for thought

More questions, ideas and tools to put into practice in your website and marketing.