You don’t start a journey without knowing where you’re going. Well, unless it’s one of those walkabouts or other personal enlightenment journeys, but this is your business we’re talking about, so it’s time to get focused.
There are several aspects to the “pre-game” of building a successful site:
- Understanding who the website is for
- Understanding their problems
- Understanding how you can help them
- Understanding what you should measure
The questions and statements that follow will help you develop a strategy for success. I’ve broken them into categories for your company, your design, and your marketing. These are based on the client intake sheet that we have developed for our own projects.
Your Business
What is the primary function of your business?
Pretty straight forward: what do you bring to the market place? Do you provide pizza, travel, or bookkeeping services? Another way to think about it: what would someone Google to find your business if they didn’t know your company name?
What are your top three business goals?
You may have more or less, but more than three and they start to get diluted. “To make more money,” is too vague. Try using SMART goals:
- Strategic
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-Bound
“To generate five hundred qualified home buyers through our website within six months of launch” would be a much more effective goal.
Who is your target audience?
This is a place where too many businesses fail. I’ve been told, “employers, employees, and people looking for a job.” So, um, basically everyone who’s not retired?
Or the guy who ran a restaurant and said, “Everyone who needs to eat to survive.”
Funny? Possibly. But for a single Tex-Mex restaurant in Portland, Maine, that doesn’t serve breakfast or booze, I think you could have narrowed it down just a wee bit, no?
See how narrow you can make this target audience, even if you feel you may be excluding some of your audience.
That restaurant may have been better served by targeting middle-income families within five miles of Portland who like Tex-Mex food and often go to the mall or the movies on the weekend.
Marketing to this avatar helps you focus your message and it will still attract people who don’t match up with this avatar.
What are your site visitor’s goals when they come to the website?
Where most people fail on this question is that they mistake it for what THEY want out of their audience, not the other way around.
- They want to learn more about my products and services.
- They want to meet my staff.
- They want to buy from me.
While some of those may be true, it may not be the first thing that your customer may be thinking when they come to your site.
If they’ve got grubs destroying their lawn, their goal is to get rid of the grubs and get back their healthy lawn. Whether you or the next company has the right solution, they really don’t care.
Now, if you’ve got an organic solution and your competition doesn’t, then you might say that your site visitor wants to find an environmentally friendly way of saving their lawn.
If you’re a restaurant, your site visitor may want to check out your menu, see your hours, or get directions. They may also want to find a place to host a corporate event or a kids’ birthday party.
Remember that this is about what they want, not what you want.
Who are your three biggest competitors?
Avoid the “no one. No one does what we do” answer here. Keep in mind that even if no one does exactly what you do, there may be other solutions to your potential customers’ problems.
You may have the only archery range in town that has a birthday room, but there are certainly other activities parents can choose that will entertain a dozen ten-year-olds.
If you really find yourself struggling to find other businesses that are similar, consider businesses you don’t compete with because of geography. You may be the first gluten-free bakery in your town, but there are plenty of others you can find across the country.
If you’re doing something completely revolutionary, market ignorance could be your biggest competitor. In that case, education and content creation will be critical to your success.
How do you differentiate yourself from these competitors?
This will help guide your copy, the photos you choose, and all of your marketing. You should be crystal clear on what these are. Visit your competitors’ sites (if appropriate) to understand how they are positioning themselves.
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