Powerful Website Strategy - 25 questions to ask and answer

STRATEGY: a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result: a strategy for getting ahead in the world.

Every successful business leaders knows the importance of setting objectives and selecting appropriate strategies. Why then do so many otherwise smart company owners and marketers skip this step when they update or replace a website? Maybe it’s the lure of cheap website design firms who make developing a website seem so fast and easy — who bothers with a strategy when you can get a website for $499?

Whatever the reason, skipping over the website strategy step is sure to result in an inferior website no matter how much you pay for it. So, don’t do that. Instead, review and answer the following questions. This will provide a very useful guide for designers, copywriters, webmasters and anyone else who needs to understand how well the website is performing.

To make things easier, I’ve divided the questions into six categories: objectives, audiences and questions, metrics, competitors, and strategies. Read them. Answer them. Share them. And your website can become a great competitive advantage.

Website Objectives

1. What’s the main objective of your new website?
2. What are the secondary objectives?
3. Why are you replacing your current site?
4. What actions do you want your visitors to take?

Website Audience

5. Who is your target audience?
6. How do they make a buying decision?
7. What questions are they likely to have about you and your product or service?
8. What risks do they perceive in buying your product?

Website Metrics

9. How will you measure the success of your site?
10. What business contribution metrics will you track?
11. What site performance metrics will you track?
12. How will you get user feedback?
13. What analytics tool will you use?

Competitors

14. Who are your top 3 - 5 competitors?
15. How does their web presence differ from yours?
16. What calls-to-action do they include on their website?
17. How easy is it to find your way around the site?
18. What is their primary messaging?
19. What do you like and dislike about the sites?

Website Strategies

20. How will you answer your visitors’ questions?
21. How will you remove their perceived risks?
22. How will you be found by the search engines?
23. How will you drive traffic to the site?
24. How will you obtain contact information from your visitors?
25. What areas will you optimize to promote conversions?

There are many more questions you can ask and answer when creating your website
strategy. The ones I’ve included here could be considered the minimum. No matter how rushed you are, don’t skip this step. When you see the difference it makes in your website’s performance, you’ll be glad you took the time.

READ:

How to Conduct a Website Review
7 Components to a Great Website
Fixing Your Homepages

Need some help? Clicks n Conversions offers comprehensive website strategy development and website conversion optimization services starting as low as $1000. Just fill out the form below to get started now.

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