Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m learning a great deal taking part in Web site critiques. As is often the case, reading what I`m suggesting to someone else causes me to re-think what I`m doing in my own life. I`ve learned what I want in a site, how to make it happen, and what sort of problems to expect.

Along the way, I`ve also begun to see patterns in Web site development, design, artistic structure, aesthetics, and purpose. And so it brings up a new problem: What "was" your overall site vision before you took even one step in building a Web site?

We`ve talked about SEO writing, and there`s what I`m calling a "theme" for each page on the site. That theme should be related to the overall site, its purpose, and its core line of business. But not too closely related. The theme for each page helps capture searches "off to the side" of direct searches.

So what IS that theme for the site? Does it just show up gradually as you mess with this, mess with that, and putz around with something? Should you have a "vision" for your Web site before you start coding HTML? I think so.

You should have a life plan to understand why you want a business at all, and what`s the purpose of that business. You should have a business plan to help you plot the steps and strategies involved in bringing that business to fruition. Should you also, then, have a Site Vision, or Site Plan?

A Web site is perhaps one of the most difficult and complex components of a successful business. Only a few years ago, people distinguished between a "regular" business and "e-commerce." Now, with the explosive growth of the Web and its credibility, if you`re a "normal" business and don`t have a Web site, you`ll likely run into major trouble soon.

That Web site promotes your self, your image, your credibility, your "honor," your products, your track record, and everything else about you and your business. Why do so many "do-it-yourselfers" approach their Web site so haphazardly?

Would you walk into a bank asking for a loan, then tell the loan officer to wait a minute while you call your best friend to find out what`s the name of your company? How about people who go for a job interview, then call for a pizza delivery while their in the middle of an interview?

Why do people seem to think they can casually toss together a Web site in "only a few moments, guaranteed, just follow our templates!" That site is (theoretically) going to be up in front of the world for many years. Doesn`t it make sense to have a coherant, unified vision of what you`re trying to say---to promote? I think so, but maybe I`m just one opinion.

Craig,
I love your topic.... and you have addressed so many points that made me smile.
Before you begin to design your web site, you should have a vision a theme of what you want. If you are a web developer/ Designer.. you have to have the ability to interpret your clients dream and put it on code. Whether you are creating the whole web site in Fireworks or Photoshop, your theme should be established from the begining.

The functionality of your web site should be addressed from the begining. As far as navigation buttons, DHMTL pop up screens (better than Javascripts)... Forms, what type of information are you going to collect from your customers? if you`re going to collect important information, what are you going to do to protect your customers valuable information (SSL Cert?)

BUT.... for most of the part, what you need to worry about is the content. What are your topics, your keywords, What are your products, what is your GOAL....

Although the layout of your web site is very important make sure you have the content to go along with it. It would make your web site stand out more and people would feel confortable doing business with you.
here is what you need:
1. A good Designer/ Developer
2. Good Content
3. SSL Cert if needed
4. Domain should be easy to remember.

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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

Okay, so let`s start a list of what goes into a Web site "plan" (like a business plan has certain formulaes and stuff).

• Functionality -- What is this site supposed to do?
• Navigation -- Why should there be any way to go from one place to another?
• Active -v- Passive -- Do you intend to "get" information from a visitor, or only tell them things?
• Security -- How important is, and of what kind should security there be?
• Words -- What do you want to SAY on this Web site? Can you write it or will someone else write it?
• Pictures -- Why do you want any pictures at all? What purpose should they serve? Does each picture *have  to have* a reason for being there?
• ??

Maybe if we start with a higher level or "broad" list of plan topics, we can get it more detailed? The main issue, though, is whether or not anyone should think about their site *before* they start coding, or if they should just start coding, cross their fingers, and hope for the best.

I think it should be a part of your overall marketing plan.
It is not the end-all .. merely a piece.

And ... planning first will cut your end costs in half.

A web designer told me to do many things, like shop for a shopping cart. I really thought the cart was part of the pages and then was amazed at the variety available.

I was also amazed at how much can be done by a novice--registration etc.

Yes, you really do need to thing before coding. Would you build a store, or a conference center (if you are not doing the store) without a plan?

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"If you`ve got a frog to swallow, don`t look at it too long. And if you`ve got more than one to swallow, swallow the biggest one first"--Danny Cox

Craig L,
Just like with your business plan, you have to plan your web site. Especially if we go into the area of Functionality and collections.

• Functionality: What is this button, or link supposed to do? Where is it going to take  me? Why do I need that Link? Can I do without it? or Do I really Need it? Can I get a way with a simple pop up window?
  How much content do I want on my page before I decide that I need to split the topics into different topics? Am I going to use CGI to collect customers information( FORM MAIL) or do I want to user Server end coding such as php form? You gotta have a process outline...
  
• Graphics: Here is where everyone gets hung.. I want to use graphics, how do I choose the right graphics to get my point accross?
  I understand that people are visiual?  The image I want to use does it closely parallel my message?
• How big do I want my web site to be?
• Do I want to create a static or Dynamic Web Site?
• Do I want to use content management or have my designer update it for me?

Collections:

• What type of information do I want to collect from my customers?
• Do I need to collect that info?
• How am I going to store the info? Excel sheet, Database, MSACCESS?
• How am I going to get the customers info? Via email? or does it go directly to the database on the web?
• I need a login to check records on database "How much is it going to cost me?"
• Do I need an SSL Cert (Always No matter how much Information you are collecting")

I hope this helps you some...

-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

Okay, Edgar, here would be the place for a short synopsis of the meaning of "static" and of "dynamic" Web sites.

Nikole, what would you put into the list in terms of an "outline" for building a Web site plan? People on this thread are agreeing that a plan is A Good Thing. We know there are places where you can get a "business plan development tool." That`s a set of steps you follow, 1, 2, 3, to create a business plan from scratch.

What can we do to create something similar for developing a Web site plan? It should be like Edgar`s format, questions that someone (a novice) would likely ask and then answer. When the list was complete, they would theoretically have a very clear and solid concept of exactly what it was they`re trying to accomplish. Would you agree? Is this possible?

What about this thread about a "Free Website Planner" in PDF format? Is it the same topic as having a Site Plan? If not, how do the two topics differ?

In my opinion, Ben`s document is more of a questionnaire coming from the developer to the client. I think this topic is more for the person who`s not yet hired or spoken with a hosting service, developer, or anything. It`s more a personal set of questions, similar to how a business plan is personal.

I`m setting an assumption that a business plan takes place by the person before they even start a business idea, before speaking with banks, before investing anything other than time and imagination.

To answer the questions on Ben`s planner, I think first would require having the answers to this topic`s listing. Yes.....no?

The reason why I say marketing plan and not web site plan is that the website is not the end all. It is merely a part of a greater whole. And I don`t think there is one guide that will help all businesses, just like one guide will help all businesses with their business plan. (A lot of stuff on this site doesn`t apply to me because I have no funding needs.)

The site planner thing you are linking to has nothing to do with developing a marketing plan - it`s just a marketing tool for his business. I don`t work that way.  So I guess to answer your questions (and the questions on his planner) - yes, you need a marketing plan first. I`d vote, in order: 1) Life plan, 2) Business plan, 3) Marketing plan, then 4) Answering his silly thing (if you bother with that at all ... if your developer comes in early enough in the process, you don`t need something like that).

The problem is that a questionnaire like that doesn`t help the client, it helps the developer. So when people call me, I don`t ask them what they want their menus to be, I try to ask them what the goal is, who their target market is, does it even make sense for them to have a website? I`m not here to ask them if they want a blog ... I`m here to ask them who they want to reach and then go about developing a plan with them to help them achieve that goal.

So you should really have your marketing plan and business plan intact before you have your website. What is your goal? What is your message? What is your tagline? What are 5 adjectives you want to say about your business? What is your 7-second, 15-second, 30-second commercial? (Or whatever those numbers are nowadays.)

I honestly don`t believe in written documents anyway. It`s fine to write things down in the end, but I took too many Sandler classes so I`m all into the questions that get to the heart of the thing. Could I just write them all down and maybe it would work? I don`t know, maybe ... but it`s not the one person and the list of questions that gets the job done, it`s the interaction between the people involved that makes something great.

The idea of creating a website plan should be for those who need it. This
holds true for a business plan and everything that falls under it, like a
marketing plan or financial plan, etc. I think all of us agree that a website
is only part of a business, even if your business is entirely done by means
of a website, i.e. e-commerce. So yes, a website plan would be part of, or
linked to other plans within one`s business.

Think how a business plan is put together. Most business plans have
some sort of format in common. The executive summary, financials,
various projections, etc. Of course plans may vary but there are
generally accepted formats. What key items make up the format of a
website plan?

Given the wide range of kinds of sites (from e-commerce, to simple
marketing, to entertainment, etc.), what aspects of a site are generally
universal to all, or most? Scroll above and I think many of those basics
are covered. Navigation, content, security, etc. What format will this
take?

Again, back to a business plan. The common format is flexible, easily
adapted for the needs of a specific business. All businesses have a
vision. All businesses are tied to money somehow. All businesses have
people involved. These subjects are so universal that they work for
almost any business in any location, of any size, now or a century ago.

All websites have navigation. All websites have content. All websites
have a message to tell. All websites depend on technology. What else? If
we are to start forming the concept of what a website plan would be, it
needs to start with the universal concepts applicable to all websites. It
can then expand from there.

However, for the sake of this discussion and even its outcome which may
even be the beginning of a plan, I think we should stick to business
websites. Why? That`s what we`re here for. This then excludes sites like
say, YouTube or Digg or CraigsList. While they are indeed businesses,
they are not sites that support a business (hopefully you know what I
mean) which is what most of our experience and interest is in. It would
also exclude blogs or other personal or entertainment-only sites. Not that
certain concepts aren`t univeral to all, but we`re talking stricktly about a
website plan as it pertains to business. Shall we agree upon that? Yes.
Great!