Important Questions To Ask Before Building a Website

The average span of the website is about 2-3 years.
Businesses change, technology evolves, and new trends emerge.
A website that hasn’t been redesigned in a few years will start looking outdated.

Typically, a website needs to be updated every few years in order to keep it fresh.

Importance of Proper Website Planning

But don’t just jump into updating your website. You need to do proper planning.

If you want your website to succeed and generate leads and sales, you need to ask the following questions before starting a website redesign.

It is important to know what you want from your website before moving forward with the process.

Questions to Ask Before Building Website

There are a few questions that you should ask yourself before deciding on a particular platform or service. What are your goals for the website? What content do you want to showcase? What features are necessary? How much do you intend to invest? If you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, it will be easier to move forward. There are many types of websites, and they all have their own uses and benefits. You may want to create a blog or a forum for your business, or you may want a site that is more e-commerce focused. You should pick a platform that best suits your needs.

1. What is the goal of your website?

One of the most important questions you need to ask is about website goals. What do you want visitors to do upon reaching your website? Would they buy something? Fill out a form? Sign up for a newsletter? Download an e-book?

Many companies have a website but don’t exactly know why they have it. They see it as a waste of time, rather a powerful marketing tool.

The purpose of your website should help you achieve your business goals. For example, if your goal is to generate more leads for your business, then you need to have a lead capture form on your website.

The first step for any web design strategy is to determine primary and secondary goals.

2. Who are your main competitors?

The key to building a successful website is to know your competitors and to keep an eye on them. If you don’t know who your competitors are, then you aren’t going to be able to keep up with them.

To be precise, this is a 3 part question. Instead of asking who your competitors are, you need to figure out the following:

• Who are the main competitors in your niche?
• How are they succeeding?
• How can you replicate and build on their success?

If your competitors are doing something that works, you should go ahead and use the same strategies.
That means analyzing their websites to see what features they have. Look through their social media and other marketing channels.
By studying successful companies, you will be able to learn and apply the same strategies to your own business.

3. Who is your audience?

Finally, you need to know who is your audience.

Defining your audience is crucial to your website’s success. It’s important to answer this question and find out exactly what type of user you want to attract because it will dictate the design and style of your website.

You have to know exactly who you’re writing for and how you can help them. The best way to do this is to take some time to sit down and really think about who your ideal customer is.

To better understand your audience, find out as much as you can about them.

• What is their age?
• What is their educational level?
• Where do they live?
• What are their interests and hobbies?
• What do they like and dislike?
• What are they looking for when they come to your website?

Use this information to create a buyer persona. The more specific you can be about who is your ideal customer is, the easier it will be to create a website that is relevant and helpful to them. When you know your audience, you can tailor your website to their specific needs and be able to easily generate leads and sales.

The better you understand your audience, the more you can cater to their wants and needs.

Summary

While there are no one-size-fits-all strategies when it comes to updating your website, there are certain questions you need to ask before jumping into the redesign. So before you start, write down your project goals, figure out your audience, and better understand who you are competing against. By taking the time and answering these questions, you will greatly increase the chances of your website redesign success.