Why you must know your goal for your website!

One of the most challenging parts of being a web designer is working with a client that is getting a website because they ‘should’ rather than because they know the real benefits that a great web design will offer. We hear a lot of things like ‘I know I need a site so customers can find me’ or ‘just give me a basic site’. Neither of these are real goals for a web site that will serve as your most important marketing tool, they are just preconditioned responses to a question that they do not know the real answer for. A better way is to plan your goals for the site before you even speak to a web designer.

A List of great questions to ask yourself before you even contact a web designer could include:

• What is my target audience?
• How can I attract my target audience to my website?
• How can I make them buy from me or work with me?
• Where do my target audience live?
• What keywords would I like to be high up on the Search Engine Rankings for?
• How many pages does my site need?
• Do I need the ability to update the site myself?
• What websites do I like the look of?
• Who are my competitors?
• What is my budget for a web design?

This list could go on and on, just try and think of everything that know about your business customers and then think about how you can then position your website as the authority in its field. The more good questions that you can ask yourself at this stage the easier it will be for a good web designer to give you the website that your business deserves.

Just know that it is a lot easier (and less costly) for a web designer to design a site round your goals during the initial build phase. It is so much harder to have a site built and then have to be changed to fit in round the goals of the business. Sure, goals evolve over time, just always make sure that you have specific goals ready before you start.