My
definition of Website design
strategy is "the process by
which to optimise your
website to take advantage of
the
opportunities in the
external environment, whilst
addressing the threats that
are likely to impact on it".
Formulating a website design
strategy is very important
to
the success of your website.
By laying out your strategy
at
the start, even before
choosing a domain name, can
save
months, even years of
redesign and wasted
promotion
efforts.
Even if your site is already
established, there are a
number of basics that need
to be questioned to ensure
you
are heading in the right
direction. The answers to
these
questions will form the
basis for your web design
strategy.
1) Firstly, what is the
purpose of your site? Is it
a
marketing tool, a shopping
cart to enable online sales,
or
both? What are your
objectives?
2) Secondly, what are your
strengths and weaknesses? if
you
were in your visitor's
"shoes", would you buy from
the site
and what would make you
return?
3) Thirdly, how is your
income going to be
generated? Will
it be from advertising, from
site membership fees, from
affiliate programs, or from
selling your own product?
What
are your capabilities and
how will you use them to
maintain
a competitive advantage over
your rivals?
The answers to the above
will determine your content
strategy and this in turn
will have implications for
all
other aspects of your web
site design.
1) THE PURPOSE OF YOUR
SITE
Most websites serve one main
purpose - they are either
informational or they are
e-commerce sites.
Informational sites usually
make their income from
membership fees,
advertising, commissions, or
selling at
the back end.
E-commerce sites usually
make their income by selling
a
product or service.
It is often difficult to
combine both into the same
website
because an informational
site needs to provide
unbiased
information about the topic
of the website, while an
e-commerce site needs to
generate sales and use
direct
marketing tactics.
The main objective of
informational sites
therefore needs
to be to maximize your site
membership, or your
subscriber
list. Site usage could be
regarded as the internet's
equivalent of intangible
assets.
The more information the
site gathers about its
subscribers, the more
valuable the list is because
it
allows marketing to be
targeted at specific groups
of
people, defined by where
they live, how much they
earn,
whether they are male or
female, etc… However it is
also
VERY important that any
subscriber list is entirely
opt-in
because they want
information from you.
Your objectives must
therefore be: 1) Clear
focused and
specific 2) Measurable 3)
Feasible and suitable for
the
industry you are focusing
on.
2) IN YOUR VISITOR'S
SHOES
Always put yourself in your
website visitor's "shoes".
If
you were the website
visitor, what would keep you
on the
site. What makes your site
sticky?
By doing this you can easily
identify your strengths and
weaknesses!
