So you want a new website. Where do you start?

Ask “why?” and “for whom?”

With every website or web-based application, we should start by asking the question – why do I need it OR what do I want it for? A few examples of valid and frequently provided reasons are:

• to give my company credibilty
• to showcase my body of work (so it’s easily accessible from anywhere)
• to allow people to buy my products online
• to enable new potential customers to find me and contact me quickly
• to become a thought-leader by sharing my knowledge and building a community around it

For web-based applications, the reasons are usually centered around:

• to leverage the internet to do some kind of work online – anywhere, at anytime.

The next question that often gets overlooked in the process is – who will be using my site? It’s one thing to understand the demographics of our users, but it’s a completely separate thing to deeply understand the way they think, they way they behave, and the way they interact with a computer, or these days, any other device that they are using to get to your information. With technology moving as quickly as it is, this could be a mobile phone, a micro laptop or mini-notebook, your car, or even your family room TV screen.

One big mistake I see time and again is approaching a site with a “me-centered” approach. “I want them to know about my company…(and all our fabulousness).” “I want them to read about all my amazing capabilities and all the possibilities I can offer.” “I want them to call me for more information.” This kind of approach leaves your user hunting for the information they want to learn, rather than surfacing the information that they actually need to know. Shouldn’t they have enough to actually make a decision or have an opinion about before contacting you?

I really urge my customers to think about what kinds of activities their customers would want to do when they come to their site and often suggest making a “TOP 10 LIST”. This top 10 list should include the most important and frequently occurring tasks that your users would do on your site, keeping in mind their unique lifestyles, behaviors or attitudes. For example, if I was to hypothetically create a website for my music lesson studio and I know that working parents with at least 2 elementary aged kids are my target customers, my top 10 list might look something like this (no need to put them in order just yet):

• figure out what kind of music is taught – I’m looking for piano and guitar because they are soothing sounding instruments
• “meet” the teachers and “hear” why they are certified to do this
• find out how the classes are structured, what kinds of options are available
• see where the studio is located – and how to get there from say, my son’s elementary school
• see whether these classes fit into my busy schedule as a working mom
• see if they recommend any stores to buy an instrument at in the area
• see what the studio looks like inside and out so I can save myself the trip (because that’s why I’m on the web right?!)
• learn more about the current/past students to see how well they did
• find out about pricing because we have a family budget
• find out who to call or email for info or to set up a visit

With this kind of approach, you are much more inclined to present the right information for the right people the first time. And you’re much more likely to present it in a way that is actually engaging and meaningful.