I have a good friend that does business and lives by the motto “Start with the End in Mind.”
When planning a website or web-based project of any kind it is important to take this approach. Time and time again, companies and organizations constantly make the same mistake – they rush into a web project and choose a great looking design but they don’t think to plan how users will navigate and ultimately convert on their site.
Below is a list of questions that you should answer about your business or organizations before deciding to invest time, energy and money into the web:
- What is the end goal of the website?
- What action do you want users to take?
- How will users navigate through your site?
- Will it be complicated for users to take the desired action?
- Do you have content that clearly describes what product or services you offer?
- How will you make users feel comfortable communicating with the organization?
- How does the website fit into your overall business strategy?
- Are their offline initiatives that can complement your online efforts?
- How are you going to track the effectiveness of your online presence?
- Are you prepared for the investment of time that is required to have a positive web presence? No matter what business you are in – the more you are involved with your website – the more success it will have.
If you can answer every one of these questions with confidence before entering a website project and you are sure to incorporate each answer into your planning process than you’ll be off on the right path from the start…. Hence the motto “Start with the End in Mind.”