Web Design Planning Guide Worksheet
You can fill out our Planning Guide Worksheet to help you develop a design and marketing plan for your online business. Once you are done, you can print this page and use it as a guide as you plan your online business.
Here are some key points to consider
- Goals
- Target Audience
- Content & Design
- Functionality
- Competition
- Marketing
- Budget & Schedule
- Web Site Hosting & Maintenance
1. Objectives & Goals
What are your goals for the site: What are you hoping to achieve by going online?
Some common goals are:
- To use as a marketing tool to attract new customers to your physical business location
- To sell your products or services online with e-commerce
- To market your products or services online to customers who will then contact you to purchase offline.
- To increase customers and extend geographic reach
PLEASE FILL IN YOUR GOALS FOR THE SITE BELOW:
2. Target Audience
Who do you want to market your services too? What demographic of people will be interested in purchasing your product? YOu should consider:
- age
- sex
- geography
- income & lifestyle
Will your customers be Stay-at home moms? Teenagers? Small Businesses? Once you specially define your potential customers, you can design your marketing and your site to be appealing to this group. If your target audience is comedy lovers, you would probably want a colorful, fun look and feel with a sense of humor.
PLEASE FILL IN YOUR POTENTIAL TARGET MARKET BELOW:
3. Content & Design
How will your content and design help to accomplish your goals?
- What colors and images will be attractive to your target market.
- What style and tone of writing will appeal to your customers?
You can do some research on this by browsing the internet for successful businesses with similar products or services and studying the styles they use. Alternatively, you may opt to go with a completely different style to differentiate yourself from the competition.
If you are having trouble making these decisions, you should choose a web designer who will work with you to create a powerful marketing strategy and develop your content.
PLEASE FILL IN YOUR IDEAS FOR CONTENT AND DESIGN BELOW: You can also list some websites you like.
Next, you will need to choose what pages you will need. Common pages include:
- Homepage
- Contact Us
- About Us
- Products
- Services
- Our Approach
- Why Choose Us?
- FAQ
- Sitemap
PLEASE FILL IN THE PAGES YOU WILL HAVE BELOW:
5. Functionality
Your site may need additionally functionality to add more interaction with the viewer. Some common features include:
Online Store: The online store will enable a customer to purchase products online from you via your own credit card processing or through Paypal. If you choose to accept credit cards you will need (1) SSL to secure your site for secure order processing, (2) a merchant account to process the cards and (3) a merchant gateway to link you to the merchant account. If you cannot afford all of this, Paypal is a less expensive option that is safe and secure for your customers.
Online Form: You can add an online form to your site that customers can submit to you. Once they submit, the form will be emailed to you. The form has man uses:
- Users can request additional information about your products or services.
- Potential customers can ask specific questions about your products.
- Current customers can get product support from you by posting their question or problem.
PLEASE FILL IN THE FUNCTIONALITY YOUR WEBSITE WILL NEED BELOW:
6. Competition
It is important to study your competition to find out.
- What is the going rate for these products or services?
- Will it be more effective for you to compete on price or another differentiating factor?
- Is the market for your product saturated? How will you gain a portion of the market for your business?
- What aspects of your competition's websites make the customers purchase products?
PLEASE FILL IN YOUR LEADING COMPETITOR'S WEBSITE (URL) AND HOW YOU WILL COMPETE WITH THEM:
7. Marketing
How will you market your site and let the world know that your business is online? Some common choices are:
- Search Engine and directory submission
- Search Engine Optimization to increase your rankings on search engines
- Reciprocal linking to other websites
- Google Adwords
- Google Adsense
- Offline marketing such as print and radio ads
- Offering an affiliate program
8. Budget & Schedule
You will need to consider the price you will need to pay the web developer as well as your monthly hosting fee for the website when you are figuring out your budget. If you decide to pay for advertising, you will need to add that price to your budget as well.
Time considerations are also a key factor in planning. When do you need the site to go live? How long will it take you to plan and put together content? Put together a timeline and stay committed to your timeline goals.
PLEASE FILL IN YOUR BUDGET AND TIMELINE BELOW:
9. Website Hosting & Maintenance
Finding a hosting company that fits your budget & needs it important. How many email accounts will you need? Can you add a message board or store on this host's server? Make sure you choose a hosting provider that has good customer service. Our partnership with Schogini Systems can provide this. You should also plan for your website maintenance needs.
- How often will you update the content?
- Who will update content?
- Will you be adding new products and services frequently? Or will you be adding articles or newsletters?