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Business Website Action Plan
As featured in MyBusiness Mag August 2002
by Paul Wilson, Hot Chilli - Creative Director

The Internet is a graveyard of SME websites sitting in cyberspace failing to meet both business and customer expectations - a legacy of little or no planning.

Use this Business Website Action Plan to determine your online requirements. (A more detailed, downloadable version is available here.)

(Part 1 | 2)

Know Your Business

1. What do you do? Describe your business in a couple of concise sentences. (Effective websites contain simple, summarised text. They get to the point.)
2. Do you have a professional corporate identity? (Does your logo do your business justice? Will it look good on the web when up against those of your competitors? If not, invest in a new design – it’s worth it.)

Examine Your Competitors

1. Examine your competitors’ websites (at least 3). What do you like about them? What don’t you like? You can learn much from your competitors’ online successes and failures.
2. What makes your company different and better than your competitors? What is your point of difference(s)?

Understand Your Customers

1. Who are your customers? List everything you know about them.
2. What will your customers want from your website? What will they be looking for? (You need to satisfy your customers’ website needs in order for your website to work for them.)

Discuss Technical Requirements

1. For new websites – what domain name will you want? (e.g. www.yourbusiness.com.au) Keep your domain name as simple and as close to your business name as possible. Search to see if it is available at Internet Names Australia.
2. Where will your website be hosted? (For most small business websites, you shouldn't’t be paying more than $40 a month.) Use an Australian website host provider. Overseas providers might be cheaper but customer support is usually an issue.
3. Create a list of the email addresses you will need? (e.g. yourname@yourbusiness.com.au, sales@yourbusiness.com.au)
4. Will you need E-commerce? If so, do you have a merchant account with a bank? What will your customers be able to purchase? How will you fulfil orders? .
5. Don’t use Flash animation or sound on your website unless it is appropriate for your target market. In most cases it’s not necessary and causes more headaches than benefits.

Prepare Website Content

1. List under page headings the information that will be available on your website? (Again, think about your customers and want they are looking for.)
2. After you have a list – rank the headings in terms of customer popularity.
3. Count how many web pages will be in your site. Then double it. Most small business operators under-estimate the number of pages they will need.
4. Where will the content come from? Will you write it? Is it already available on a printed brochure?
5. How often will new content be added and/or updated?
6. Who will update the content and how will they do it?