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Website Questions: #4 in a Series

guru — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:44:12 +0000

What is your budget for this project? Who are the decision makers on this project? What is the turnaround time for making a decision? What staff will be involved? What are their roles? Is there a webmaster on your staff? … Continue reading →

Website Questions: #3 in a Series

guru — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:08:25 +0000

Why do you believe site visitors should do business with you rather than with a competitor?
How can your particular work background help prospects, compared to others in your industry? What’s special about your work experience?
Do you have a slogan or tagline that clearly describes what you offer in terms of benefits or features?
Please describe your potential customers. Pay special attention to their income, interests, gender, age, even type of computer they use, e.g., old with dialup account or newer with broadband. If your website is a business-to-business site, what sort of companies are you hoping to attract?
What problems do your prospects have that your business solves?

90/90 Rule of Project Scheduling:
“The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of the time, and the last ten percent takes the other ninety percent.”

Website Questions: #2 in a Series

guru — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:59:40 +0000

How much time will you be able to spend online, responding to inquiries that come in via your website? Once a day? Several hours a day?
If you were using a search engine, what words or phrases would you use to find your site? Which of these words or phrases is most important? Second? Third?
Other than what search engines will produce, what methods do you have in mind to spread the word about your website?
Once your website is completed, how long do you think it will be before you begin bringing in significant business from the website?
How do you plan to encourage repeat visitors and referrals?

Why do you want a new website?

guru — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:05:24 +0000

Why do you want to have a new website, or have your current site redesigned? Here are a few things to consider when thinking about your website:

Try to list the names of five other sites that you like, and explain why are they attractive to you. ALSO, list a few websites (competitors’ or outside of your field) that you dislike, and explain why.
Describe in one sentence what you want your website to say to visitors.
What are the main things you think that your customer will come looking for (list 5)
What are the main things you want to get from this website (list 5)

Cute saying of the day:

Those parts of the system that you can hit with a hammer (not advised) are called hardware; those program instructions that you can only curse at are called software. Quote from the book – Levitating Trains and Kamikaze Genes: Technological Literacy for the Future

Effective Websites

guru — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:14:28 +0000

Excellent design is only part of the story; you, the client, must contribute surperb content, and a well-crafted “Business Value Proposition” if you want your web site to be effective. Cute saying of the day: Complex problems have simple, easy-to-understand … Continue reading →

Value Proposition

guru — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:13:16 +0000

You must have, or develop if you don’t already have, a “Business Value Proposition”. Without an effective Business Value Proposition, you will not stand-out from the herd of similar offerings.

Your value proposition is a short and to-the-point statement setting your business apart from all competitors. A value proposition has to be what you DO and ARE. It can’t be just what you SAY or WANT.

Cute saying of the day:

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.