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Defining Your Site Goals - Lesson 1The very first step in the planning process is to clearly define and document your e-business website's goals. Although, this may seem obvious to you and I, if you spend any time browsing the Internet you will find sites that left this step out and as a result seem to be pointless in their existence. If you don't know what you are trying to achieve, then what is the point in building your website? You should try and involve as many people in this stage as possible. Group consensus from the start can make or break the project if you are working with others on this venture. Determine who is going to be involved in defining the goals by considering the basic nature of the site. Who are the key players? It is important to make them feel like they are contributing to the project. Listen to their comments but make sure that no single person controls the process. Even if you are a one-person operation, you should bounce some ideas off friends and family. At this stage you want to get everybody's agreement on the purpose and goals of the site you are going to build. After you determine who will be involved in the design process it is time to produce a list of questions. The aim of these questions is to help you determine the site's mission and purpose. At a minimum your questions should include:
It is important to keep asking yourself this question through the entire process of getting your e-business started.
Whilst the temptation is to get things up and running quickly, looking to the future can save a lot of trouble down the line. Having some clear ideas of where your site will be in 1 or 2 years' time will allow you to accommodate growth and change more effectively.
It is crucial to consider this. After all, they are the reason your website exists.
This is another key question. If you already have a product or service you are ready to market, that's great! If you don't, you need to find one. A great way to identify a product or service you could market effectively online is to find schools of hungry fish, discover what they want and give it to them. When you are looking for a product or service to market on your e-business website, look at what your talents and skills are, think about what you enjoy, and consider what you are good at. You should then identify a marketplace that would have a need for your expertise, skill or passion.
Are you selling something? Are you offering a unique service? What is the motivation for somebody to come to your site for the very first time and will they come back? Try to determine any other questions that will reveal the true purpose of your e-business website. After compiling this list of questions, put them to your group. Make sure you record everybody's answers and don't forget to answer them yourself. You should then filter the responses, formulate your site goals and sort these goals by priority. Set aside the answers about your intended audiences for now, we'll get to those later. Now rephrase the other questions and turn them into statements that describe your goals. List your goals and if need be, categorise them. Your site now has a purpose! It is a good idea to run the final list of goals by a few people and get everybody's agreement. Do whatever you have to, to get your whole team's agreement. Sign off on the goals for the site before proceeding. The Design DocumentAfter you have agreement, you should document the goals and publish them where
everyone can see them. This list of goals will form the basis for your design
document. Use these goals to create the first chapter of your design document. |