You have a site. You may have even spent a lot of money on developing it, revising it, maintaining it. But have you ever sat down and really thought about why you have it and what you want to accomplish from your online presence? I am always shocked at how many companies forget to pass this crucial step.

What do most companies do?

They rush to create their website by first finding a web design firm -someone who will provide good design. Then they start thinking about the content they want there - usally based on what information exists about the company - About, Management, Products, etc. etc.  In other words, they don’t give much thought, if any at all, about what they want to get out of their site. In the best case scenario, they do start thinking about this after the site is live. And by that time, they are quite limited in what they can do.

Even the best web design firms today are not capable of providing guidance to companies who want more than an online brochure. An Internet site can and should be an integral part of almost any business today. For some businesses it is an absolute must and for others it can at least contribute to the bottom line. But it is only a small percentage of companies that have recognized the unique opportunities that the Internet platform presents if you know how to leverage it. And no, this is not about SEO, that annoying buzzword that no one seems to really understand. Even if you rank #1 on Google and get that organic traffic flowing to your site, if the message is not right, if the content is not clear, if the navigation is confusing or if they were not even searching for what you offer — then they will just leave in a split second. So who cares that they ever visited in the first place.

When you build a website, before you go to a designer, before you plan your content, take a day or 2 and think about why you are creating that site. Chances are there are several primary reasons. A good example is a medical device site we work on. Their site is primarily targeted to medical professionals right now. The reason is because it is not a product a patient might choose for themselves. The recommendation would always come from a surgeon. So the surgeons are the first target and that is a very special audience that needs to be targeted in a special way. Even the keywords that they search will be obviously different from a patient. But at the same time, this company needed to recruit patients for their clinical trial. Patients don’t look for devices, they look for solutions to specific problems for which they have been diagnosed. To serve these two distinct populations, we developed specific optimized content and specific marketing campaigns that appropriately addresses each audience. When this is well thought out and planned, it works beautifully.

So it may seem obvious, but don’t skip this important step. Think about what you want to get out of your website — and only then, start planning the actual site. And if you are not sure how to get there from here, consult with a professional with a proven track record.