What does your website do?
It’s one of the most important and least asked questions when it comes to planning and building a new website. The knee-jerk reaction is of course that we all want our websites to ‘do’ everything. We want them to attract new business, build and maintain relationships within our professional communities, showcase our talents and achievements, and to read the minds of web users.
Unfortunately while research is ongoing, there is yet to be a real breakthrough in mind-reading technology and so we probably need to approach the problem from a more practical perspective. Simply put, it is essential to have a specific set of goals in mind as the underlying purpose for your website existing in the first place.
While it’s good to have a website, it’s simply not good enough to have a website for the sake of it or because everyone expects it. What does your website do for you and your business? How does it enhance your reputation? How does it interact with your client base? How will it attract new business?
The answers to these questions will form the basis of the online identity of your brand and business. It will also help to define the relationship you can build with your audience and will shape the type of functionality you want to include on your website.
Instead of creating a confused site that attempts to do everything and ultimately confuses users, you are now working towards a clearly defined website that is focused on enhancing the experience users have with you and your business, thereby strengthening your reputation and building your brand.
