Web Site Planning Questionnaire

There are a number of questions a business must ask itself prior to beginning the venture of building or redesigning a website. Here are some to get you started:

Your Company

Who are you? A brief description of your company.

How many employees?

Years in business?

What is your company's history? How were you formed? Name major milestones your company has reached and major accomplishments.

What do you do? List your company's mission statement.

Market Strengths and Weaknesses

What are the marketing goals of your business over the next year? 5 years? Think of new markets, new customers, increasing market share, increasing sales and/or profits.

What threats does your company face from competition or other? Think of areas your competition excels and areas where your competition does.

Who are your current customers?

Why do your current customers buy from you vs. your competitor?

Your Audience

Do your customers know your company and your products, or do they need education on your offerings?

Who will be visiting your website?

What information will visitors be looking for? Think of questions you hear often from your customers.

Your Preparedness

Do you currently have a website or domain name registered?

Who is your current site host? What is your annual hosting cost.

What features of your current site would you like to keep?

What needs to go?

How many people visit your web site?

How long do visitors stay on the site?

Which pages are most popular?

How do most users find you?

What have you heard about your site from customers, employees or visitors?

Who is the person in your company who will receive contact e-mails from site visitors?

Do you have a policy in place regarding how quickly customer contacts will be responded to? Most visitors expect a response within 24-48 hours of contacting you.

Who at your company will be responsible for decisions regarding the website? Someone who is familiar with all aspects of your organization, or a committee of knowledgeable people should be responsible for gathering the necessary information. In the event you form a committee, assign one person as the primary contact with the authority to make decisions.

Do you have a budget set aside to invest in your website?

Your Marketing Material

What avenues does your company currently use for advertising?

Do you have a marketing division or a person assigned to marketing tasks?

How do you generate new business leads?

Does your company already have a logo or do you need one created?

Will you supply the artwork or do you want Stone's Designs to do the work?

Will you write your own copy or do you wish Stone's Designs to do the writing?

Do you have a catch phrase?

What do you like about your competitor's websites and why? What doesn't work for you and why not?

Describe 5 words you want visitors to think of your site.

Other

Do you have an initial proposed flow chart?

Do you have a proposed layout for your site?

Keep in mind, once we get started on the design process, our designers will need the answers to most of these questions. So hang on to those answers!