Fundamental Web site planning
by Matt McGovern

Fuel for your business

These days, everyone seems to have a Web site. Hosting solutions and “do-it-yourself” Web development tools have become readily available, accessible and affordable. Suddenly, everyone from multi-million dollar corporations to small home-based businesses have at their finger tips the ability to reach millions of potential customers.

Building a successful Web site, however, is much more than putting together a series of Web pages; it involves building a strategy that truly integrates your business with the Web in ways that support your current needs, help you to grow, and can grow with you.

Implementing a successful Web strategy leads to the following:

• enhanced company image and brand
• improved outreach to customers and prospects, generating leads and more business
• improved customer service, improving retention and positive word-of-mouth
• more efficient access to information for you and for your customers
• more efficient use of staff resources.

Executing a poorly conceived Web strategy, on the other hand, can be catastrophic to your professional reputation, your wallet, and your peace of mind.

To some, the need to plan might seem obvious, but many Web sites have been built with little underlying strategy – leaving owners wondering, “What went wrong?”

Treat the Web site planning process no differently than you would any other business planning exercise – no differently than you would the development of an advertising campaign, the introduction of a new product or service, or the development of a sales brochure.

The Web is another tool
Planning and developing a Web site can seem complicated, even intimidating, but remember the only truly complicated part is the technology that delivers the Web site. In simple terms, think of the World Wide Web as another tool for your businesses – much like the telephone, a direct mail piece, a newspaper advertisement, a mail order catalogue, or a newsletter. The same basic rules that apply to using those tools apply to the Web. The only differences are the method of delivery, the terminology, and your ability to reach a wider audience more efficiently than you might have ever thought possible.

Your role
Sometimes because of personal ability, preference, intellectual challenge or out of financial necessity, small business owners choose to design, program and maintain their own Web sites. Still others, whether technically proficient or not, choose to focus on running their business, leaving the Web development and maintenance chores to others. Whichever role you choose, remember that it is up to you to determine the business purpose of your Web site – and that requires very little Web-related technical expertise.

Assessing your business and your customers
You should begin the Web planning process by asking yourself the question, “Do I want only a Web site, or do I truly want to integrate the Web with my overall business plan?” Once answered, you are ready to tackle the “Assessment Phase” which will ultimately lead you to the business purpose for your Web site.

This is the stage where you:

1. assess your current business and profile your current customers
2. identify target customers
3. consider customer purchase decisions
4. determine if/how a product or service you provide can be delivered over the Internet
5. identify if/how your target customers use the Internet
6. consider likely impact (if any) on staff and workload.

Considering design elements
Armed with knowledge gained during the “Assessment Phase,” you can now better determine what Web site features and functions are necessary to support your business needs.

The “Design Phase” is where you:

1. determine the functions and levels of interactivity desired and needed
2. explore various email and Web browser compatibility issues
3. explore e-newsletter types and delivery issues
4. consider various other design options and solutions
5. identify if/how your target customers use the Internet
6. consider the impact of your choices on development costs as well as long-term maintenance costs.

Once you have made it through these two important planning steps, you will find yourself ready to turn your Web site “blueprint” into reality.

For those of you who already have a Web site, but find that it has failed to capture the essence of your business and the imagination of your customers and prospects, do not despair! These planning steps can work for you, too. View this as an opportunity to “re-invent” yourself – an opportunity to step back, start fresh, and take a strategic approach to venturing onto the Web.

Check out Fuel cells to help you get planning!

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Fuel cells

Tips on beginning the Web planning process
To begin planning your Web strategy, ask the following questions of yourself, your staff, experts, colleagues and your customers. Gather this information through focus groups, comment cards and surveys, interviews, market research, self-discovery or chance encounters.  You may be surprised by what you learn. After all, new discoveries equal new opportunities. You may also be reassured through confirmation of long-held beliefs.

“Step 1” is to fully understand your business and your customers.

1. Who are my current customers?
2. Why are they my customers?
3. Why do they use my product or service?
4. Who are my ideal/target customers? Do they differ from my current customers?
5. Who are my key competitors?
6. What are the top five purchase decisions my target customers consider when buying either from my competitors or me?
7. Given my target customers' top five purchase decisions, where I am the clear leader?
8. What is my reputation with customers and target customers?
9. What do I want my reputation to be? Is this different from my current reputation?
10. Does my company already have a marketing/positioning message? Can it be stated in one sentence?
11. Does my message clearly communicate a benefit to my target customer? Is it consistent with my desired reputation?

“Step 2” is to align what your business offers and what you can afford to provide online with what your customers want.

1. What is the business purpose of my Web site? How important is my Web site to my success?
2. What specific functions does my Web site need to support the services and products I want to provide?
3. What Web site functions do I consider CRITICAL at the outset? What do I consider "nice to have" but not critical on day one?
4. Will I be selling products and/or services on my Web site? Are there logistical or regulatory constraints that could prevent me from providing this product or service over the Internet?
5. Does my Web site need to be dynamic or static?  Do I need to provide fresh content on a regular basis? Who will produce this content? How frequently?
6. Will my site enhance communication with customers, prospects and vendors? How? What do I need to make this possible?
7. What resources (staff, time, money) do I need (or are available) to support Web site development and maintenance?
8. Will the Web site mean more or less work for my staff and me (real or perceived) and is there an opportunity for me to free up resources that can be used elsewhere?

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Fuel for your soul

Make this your Web planning mantra
As you plan a new Web site or refine an existing approach, make this your mantra: “Simple, sustainable and cost effective.”

• “Simple” means that your approach is focused, concise and targeted, with a clean professional design that supports a well-defined business objective.
• “Sustainable” means your approach is implemented in stages that balance your development, marketing and ongoing maintenance costs with your anticipated business needs and revenues as you grow.
• “Cost-effective” means that decisions affecting Web site design, hosting options, maintenance and e-Marketing are made with an eye towards affordability and flexibility.

Consider these words of wisdom:

“Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.” — Eliel Saarinen

“Strategy is a style of thinking, a conscious and deliberate process, an intensive implementation system, the science of insuring future success.” — Pete Johnson

“Form follows function.” — Louis Henri Sullivan

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