Good Web Design – Step 1: Goals & Objectives

Posted in: Blog, Design by chris on May 9, 2010 | No Comments

A week doesn’t pass without a discussion about the difference between what we do as a company versus the guy across town whose bid came in as a fraction of what we had proposed for a client’s project. We’re not complaining. It’s our job to explain why we are different. There is chasm of “stuff” between a crappy website and great website. And unless you have owned and experienced one or both, you probably won’t be able to discern the difference.

We’re going to devote our next several blog posts to this subject and guide you through our approach and philosophy here. The extra steps we take with our projects and why you really get what you pay for in our industry.

Step 1: Goals and Objectives

Before every other step in the project we need to clearly understand our client’s goals and objectives. We break this into three distinct areas:

1. What are the site’s goals?
2. What do your visitors want?
3. What does your staff want?

Site Goals

What do you want your site to do? What does success look like? Obvious questions, right? You would think so, but there seem to be an endless supply of sites that have no clear purpose. The “We just want a web presence” website is not good enough anymore. Just ask your customers.
Take the time to define some clear and measurable goals for the site. Be specific if you can. All other decisions after this point should contribute to these goals and objectives.

What do your visitors want?

OK, so you have set some goals for your site. Now you need to consider who your visitors are and what they will want from your site while maintaining alignment with your overall goals. If you can’t meet their needs then their visit will be short and you won’t see any results.

It seems simple, but it is rare that a site is built from the perspective of the visitors. More often a website is built based on what a business wants the public to see of them and their services, rather than thinking of how the site might better aid their customers or prospects.

When capturing the detailed needs of your client’s customer, we sometimes create “personas” of their typical customers. What are they like, what do they do with their spare time and their spare money.

So, what do your customers want? What Google search terms will they use to find a site like yours? What content, services, offers, or calls to action can you use to appeal to these wants? And don’t just think sales here. It’s service, too.

It’s all about creating satisfied customers that will come back and recommend you to their friends. If you give people what they want, the way they want it and follow through with a fast finish when it comes time to pay up, you are much more likely to turn them into satisfied customers.

What does your staff want?

This is something that is overlooked in even medium to large-sized organizations. Clients have numerous processes that could be made easier or even automated by the smart use of a website or an online app. For example, they may have staff that spends time handling support calls from customers – this could be addressed with a support section or knowledgebase on the site.

The focus would be on freeing up staff’s time, allowing them to focus on other more vital tasks. All you have to do is take the time to consider employees in the design — maybe even bring them into the project planning process.