Why do all these questions need answers? Because you need a plan! A good plan will help ensure the success of your site. Don’t rely on a ‘professional’ to do it all … no one knows your company like you!

Why do you want a website?
This might seem a little rhetorical to those who are web savvy, but it is the most important question! Do you want to increase sales? Create a way to communicate more effectively with your present/future customers? Having a few ideas together about this will help get the conversation started with a developer.

What goals do you have for the site?
This really is different from the question above. Think features, new services or capabilities you don’t already have. Do you want to create a way for repeat customers to renew their orders? How about communicating specials to your most important customers on a weekly basis?

Brainstorm yourself, first. You may not know what possibilities exist, but do a little homework. Go look at websites in your industry and others. What are they doing that you could capitalize on? Start making a list a week or so before you talk to a developer and grow it for a week with your research.

Who is your target market?
You know who buys your services and products, right? (Right?) Knowing your target market helps define how the site is put together. Older consumers need larger fonts, more open space on a page, fewer contrasting colors and contact information that is easily found. Middle-aged consumers will want organized (and thorough) information, graphics that are less intrusive and clearly defined navigation. You get the picture. Knowing your target market will also go a long way toward defining the services that will be successful on your website.

What need are you meeting or problem are you solving?
This may seem so ‘Business 101′, but bear with me. If someone visits your site and they only hear about you, what good does it do them? But, if they visit and see you are all about meeting their needs on their schedule, hey, you’re in! It could be as simple as just making the question you are asked the most by customers the first thing they see on the site. It could be offering a service that saves them time. (And, yes, saving time is more important than saving money to many consumers.) Whether you are helping them recoup 20 minutes out of their day or doing away with a nuisance in their life, you need to focus on solving their problems, not yours.

What do your customers expect from the website?
What? You haven’t asked them yet? Don’t guess! (NEVER guess.) Put out a little flyer out with some multiple choice questions on it. (Leave plenty of space for them to write their own answers in!) For everyone who fills it out, give them a discount or enter them for a prize drawing. It will be worth the expense, since you’ll be getting insight into what they think they would use on your site. You may be very surprised at their answers.

What do YOU want your customers to do on the site?
Visit it, of course Seriously, this goes hand-in-hand with your goals. Let’s say you want to increase blue widget sales by 10% over the next year. Obviously, you’d want them to buy blue widgets on the site. (Seems logical, right?) Do you want them to purchase more than one at a time? How would you get them do that? Ahh, click the “Blue Widget Special Discount” button. (Now you’re getting it.) Is one of your goals to increase sales by 15% to clients who are spending $1000.00 a month with you already? Then maybe getting them to sign up for a special “XYZ Company Preferred Customer Discounts” newsletter is the action you want them to perform.

What is your definition of ’success’?
Part of any good plan is clearly defining what you expect the outcome to be. When I say ‘define the outcome’, I mean something that is measurable.

• An email newsletter that is mailed out to 500 people
• Increase new customer inquiries by 25%
• Increase blue widget sales by 10% in one year

Now, there is no guarantee that a website will be able to accomplish your vision of success. However, if you have a firm idea of what your return on investment should look like, it will help shape the effort applied to building the site and marketing it.

How will you market it?
This is the one that gets most everyone. How do you market a website? Marketing the website needs to be folded into any other marketing you already do. New ways to market the site can be explored, but you should focus initially where you are spending your money already.

• Every piece of paper that goes out your door has your web address on it (receipts, letters, envelopes, business cards, fliers, posters, etc.)
• Yellow page ads
• Direct mailings

As for new ways to market it, there are several easy ways to get started marketing on the Internet. We can cover them in more detail some other time, but a few would be:

• Advertise on local or regional websites
• Paid listing in local business search and consumer review sites
• Advertise on complimentary national sites
  
• Paid listings for local businesses on search engines
• Paid keyword ads on search engines

So there you have it. Answer these questions and you will be that much closer to a successful website that not will attract more potential customers, but it will build your bottom line, as well.