10 Key Things You'll Need to Know to Prepare for a Website Design

You have your designer selected and you are ready to kickoff the project, but preparation is the key to getting the project completed efficiently and successfully.

1. What are your goals?
   With a new website or a website redesign, its important to know ultimately what your goals are for your website. Do you want it to sell a product, are you providing a resource, do you want to generate leads or just simply get found? Set the goals as a guideline for how your site will look and flow.
2. Who is your audience?
   Don't forget that website design is really about marketing. Think about your customer and consider the following: What appeals to them? What motivates them to buy or choose one service provider over another? What content is most important? How can you provide what they need quickly and simply. All of these factors play into how your site is structured, from building pages that are fast-loading to writing content that appeals to your demographic.
3. What is your unique selling point?
   If you are in business, you probably already have this defined, but communicate your USP to your web team so they can help convey that to your visitor. What sets you apart from your competition is an important message to get across to your visitor from the minute they land on your home page.
4. What pages do you want to include in your website?
   Define your navigation menu in advance so that important information doesn't get overlooked. A basic navigation menu should include an about us page and a contact page, from there you can expand to include services, products, galleries, etc. Keep menu titles simple so the user doesn't have to guess to find information.
5. How do you want to look?
   Are you contemporary, traditional, or transitional? These are easy to define in interior design but your desired look and feel for your website may be challenging to convey to your designer. Take a trip around the web and look for websites that appeal to you and those that do not and keep a list. Also check out your competition to see how they portray themselves. Remember first impressions matter even on a website.
   
   Here are some links for inspiration:
   • http://www.instantshift.com/2009/07/07/80-corporate-website-designs-for-design-inspiration/
   • http://www.instantshift.com/2009/07/28/55-fresh-examples-of-corporate-website-designs/
   • www.thebestdesigns.com
6. How will you prepare content?
   If the concept of walking barefoot over hot coals seems more appealing than writing content for your website, then consider a copywriter. The investment saves you time that you can focus on growing your business and gets you a completed website faster. Well prepared content with solid calls to action will also help you get better results. If you plan to do it yourself, break the job up into into manageable milestones. Getting content together is the biggest hold up in the completion of a website.
7. Can you supply existing marketing collateral, images, photography, logos, etc?
   Your designer will need your logo in a vector format, particularly an eps file along with photography and any other marketing collateral that you may have. Photography is key on a website. If you don't have the means to hire a photographer then consider stock sources. If you take your own photography, make sure the images are crisp, well framed and lit correctly. Blurry shots can be detriment to selling your product.
8. What are your keywords?
   Prepare a list of terms and phrases that you think real people would use to search for your product or service - not just industry terms. These words will help search engines find you and are helpful for your team to know in advance so they can incorporate the keywords into the design and structure of your website.
9. How do you want to interact with your visitor?
   Do you want people to fill out a contact form or sign up for email marketing? Do you want them to follow you on twitter or facebook or subscribe to your blog? Do you want them to donate or purchase a product? If you want the visitor to take action, place these items in key positions on your home page.
10. How will you keep your site current?
    The days of set it and forget it are over. People expect content on websites to be fresh and current. Consider a content management solution for your website to give you access to update photos and content. If you don't have time to update a site, workout out a schedule of updates with your team.