Writing a website plan

Now that we understand the different components of a website, we can start to lay out the project plan or roadmap for this project. Your website plan keeps you focused, ensures that your messages are right, and sets the overall direction of your project. Your website plan is one of the most important parts of your Website Toolkit, so take your time on it, get it right, and keep it close to hand so that you can refer back to it easily.

Tip

You can download a sample website plan template from this book's support bundle page on the http://www.packtpub.com/support website.

The website plan is laid out for you in the following sections, along with some sample answers and helpful questions to ask yourself so that you can ensure that you are on the right track when writing yours. Some of this information may already be available in your business, such as within your branding guidelines or annual reports. Don't just leave it there; put it into your website plan. For smaller businesses or those without such documents, there's no time like the present to sharpen up the way you communicate about your business, so let's get started. Many of the items included here can be used for other communication projects too.

About your business

The first section of your website plan summarizes your business and how it should be presented online.

Business overview (the "elevator pitch")

Describe your business in 2-3 sentences. Focus on what you do, what makes you different, and what your strongest selling points are. What are the key reasons your customers choose you instead of the competition?

Here's an example: Floribunda is a boutique florist that specializes in supplying unusual varieties of flowers to the wedding and catering trade. We create truly unique and distinctive arrangements by including colors and types of flowers that aren't available through any other florist in the tri-county area. Unlike other local florists, we have direct links with the best growers and only ever select the freshest, highest quality blooms.

Slogan (a.k.a. tagline or strapline)

Now, condense it down even further: does your business have a slogan or strapline that clearly defines what you offer in terms of uniqueness, benefits, or features? If not, you may find it useful to write one, as it will come in handy for your website. Ensure that it is no more than 10 words long, and open up thesaurus.com if you need word inspiration. Think about some of your favorite brands and the kinds of short, punchy phrases they use to communicate about their business.

The following are some examples:

• Lastminute.com – Book cheap, last-minute travel deals
• Qantas Airlines – All-inclusive airfares on Australia Pacific's best airline
• Oxfam International – The power of people against poverty

Brand image

List your company's brand values. If you don't have some already, think about how you would like your business to be perceived and list 4-5 descriptive words or phrases that you want people to feel about your business when they encounter your website.

Some examples are fresh, confident, down to earth, powerful, simple, rational, fun, energetic, cheeky, inexpensive, relaxed, quirky, luxurious, trustworthy, edgy, youthful, and refined.

About your audience

This section describes who will be coming to your website and why.

Your customers (the site's target audience)

Describe your typical customers. Pay special attention to their demographics (income, interests, gender, and age) and comfort with technology. If your website is a business-to-business site, exactly what sort of companies are you hoping to attract, and which level and type of staff members will access your site? If you have more than one type of customer, split them into primary and secondary audiences.

It may help you to think about your customer as a single individual, including his/her life experiences, job, favorite TV shows, brands, or books. How often does s/he go online, and what websites does s/he visit? In the web industry, we call this a user persona, and we always think about what this person would want or do, whenever we are developing the site.

Tip

Be specific when defining your target audience. "Women" is not a target audience. "Upper middle-class French women over 50 with smartphones" is much better.

Primary purpose

What is the main reason that your target customers would come to your website? What action do you want them to perform? If there is more than one desired outcome, please prioritize them.

Some examples include buying a product, joining your online community, downloading a brochure, sending an enquiry, or calling your company.

About your website

The About your website part of your website plan helps you focus on what you want your website to do and includes some considerations you may need to take into account for this project.

Goals

What are the main goals you have for your website? What business objectives are you hoping to meet through this project? If this website will be replacing your old site, what do you want to be different/better about this one?

Some examples include generating sales, increasing leads, improving brand awareness, and reducing emails to your customer support team.

Functions

Thinking about your customers and the primary purpose described in the previous section, list the functions that your website will need to perform, in order of priority.

Some examples are: online shop, newsletter signup, RSS feed, and calendar of events.

Content

Briefly summarize the source, volume, and type of content for your site. Where will the content (text, images, downloadable files, videos) come from? Approximately how much content do you have in terms of number of pages? Is it available now? If not, when will it be ready? If it's coming from an existing source, will it need to be adjusted in any way to make it fit for your website?

Tip

A content preparation checklist is included in this book's support bundle on the http://www.packtpub.com/support website.

Integration

Are there any pre-existing systems or tools that your website will need to integrate with or link to?

Some examples include credit card payment gateways, social media sites, and email newsletter systems.

Site management

Briefly summarize how the site will be managed. Who will be responsible for keeping the site updated? How often will it be updated? If you will have a blog, who will moderate the comments? If you will have an online shop, how will the fulfillment and inventory process be handled?

About this project

The last part of your website plan is about the logistics of this project.

Project team

Who will be involved in this project, and what role will each person play? Even if you are doing this on your own, it's useful for you to note the project roles, because you will need to allow time for them in your schedule.

Some role examples are: final decision maker, content provider, proofreader, tester, designer, copywriter, cost approver, and project manager.

Project timelines

When do you want your website to go live? Are there any key dates to bear in mind (for example, big meetings or holidays)? Setting a realistic timeline is important, and the amount of time your project will take depends on many variables. When setting your target date, review what you have written in your plan so far, as follows:

• Content: How ready is it? Always allow time to reformat and adjust it.
• Functions: How many and how complex are they? For example, if you need to set up an online shop, think about how many products you will need to configure.
• Team: Will everyone you need be available at the drop of a hat?

Remember to factor in your own availability or any other restrictions. Based on all of this, you should be able to come up with an estimated date. Now, add 30 percent extra time to this estimate, as contingency. Put this date in your calendar… in pencil.

Tip

Always set a preferred go-live date. Even if you don't have a specific date in mind, it can be useful to set an arbitrary date as your target to give you something to aim for, and to keep the project momentum.

Project budget

What is your budget for this project? You will need to budget for your Squarespace subscription, domain name (Squarespace includes one for free if you pay your subscription annually), and you might also want to set aside some money for things such as stock photo licenses and logo design. Remember, you don't need web hosting with Squarespace, so you won't need to budget for that.

Note

You have just completed the first—and the most important—part of your Website Toolkit: your website plan. You may want to print out your plan and put it in a folder next to your computer. You will need to refer back to it often.