Why do you want a website?

It's time to be brutally honest.  The answers to the questions on this page will help you determine the direction your site will take.  Don't answer quickly - pour a cup of coffee and think about it.

Why do you want a website?  Are you selling or telling or both?  Do you want a site that presents information that rarely changes (show information, a line of products), or a dynamic site with information that changes regularly?  Who do you want to attract to your site?  Will people be buying products from you?  This includes selling yourself.  Perhaps you are a teacher who wants to publicize her classes nationally, or a designer interested in establishing an Internet presence.  Who are your main competitors?

If you could describe yourself and what you do in a sentence, what would it be?  Where to you see yourself in five years?  In ten years?  What benefits do you expect your website will provide you?

Do you have an idea you would like to market?  Perhaps it's a new technique or a self published book.  What can you offer your visitor?  Why will your site be a better choice to visit than another one?  Why should they revisit your site?  Will you be encouraging E-mail, perhaps by creating an informational newsletter?  Are you comfortable sharing your knowledge and abilities with others?

This is what your website can do for you:

• Establish your presence on the web
• Provide information
• Build familiarity of your product
• Reach an International market
• Test new products and/or markets
• Provide customer service and build customer loyalty by:
  • Selling your product
  • Offering 24 hr service
  • Answering frequently asked questions
  • Making demonstrations and explanations available. 
  • Making changing information available quickly
  • staying in contact with sales people
  • requesting consumer feedback
    

This questionnaire will help you define your needs and those of your customers. When you are done, you will have the tools you need to create an effective website.  Now all you need to do is design it in such a way that is both efficient for your customer and friendly to the search engines.  Continue this tutorial with Effectively marketing your website through proper search engine optimization.