So, you've found a web designer and you're ready to begin your project. If you haven't already, sit down with these and get your plan together. These are a series of things to consider when planning your website. Every site is different, some questions won't apply to your situation, and this list changes depending on the site…

• What will your website do? What functions does it need? How do you want to use it?
• What is the focus of your site?
  • Is it to provide information?
  • Is it to sell products or services?
  • Is to generate leads?
  • Is it to create a community?
  • Could it be all of these, and more?
• What goals do you have for your site?
  • Financial goals, making money, a return on your investment, generate leads
  • Visibility goals, being a name brand in your industry, being known as an expert
  • Other goals, charity, donations, fund raising, giving back to a community
• Think about your business, or the idea you want to present. Do you have competition? What are they doing?
• Will you present information only?
  • How will you organize this information?
  • Where does your content come from? Do you create it, do your visitors create it?
  • Will the information need to be updated? How frequently? Who will update the site?
• What about branding your site:
  • Do you have a logo and/or color scheme?
  • What other branding materials do you have? Brochures, business cards, presentations?
  • Do you have a domain name?
  • Do you have any industry affiliations, trade groups, etc.?
• Will you sell online?
  • How will the orders be processed?
  • Do you need a shopping cart system or software?
  • Do you need to accept credit cards?
  • Do you need to interface your online store with your accounting or inventory software?
• Will you offer customer service and/or support on your site?
  • How will you offer this information?
  • Will you provide a knowledgebase or other collection of support information?
  • Will you need a means of tracking support requests? Or will simple e-mail communication do the job?
  • Will you provide a special phone number for support?
• Will you include resources or other material valuable to your audience or the industry? How much will you include?
  • Will you include documents, white papers or manuals?
• Will you include video or audio? Podcasts?
  • Do these media types make sense for your product or service?
  • What technology is most likely to be used by your audience?
• Will you offer other features on your site:
  • forums or message boards
  • chat
  • a blog
  • rss feed
  • e-cards
  • newletters