A client asked me to put this together so they could understand exactly what I do as a consultant.  I think often times we make it look way too easy.  People say they want it to be easy and they don’t want to think about it but often times if they don’t understand what is going into the process they will think it is easy.  Maybe that is why so many people when pressed about the website suggest they have a neighbor or a nephew who could do it.

So this is my advice for the day.  Let your clients know how involved it is and that you are saving them tons of time by knowing the answers to these questions.  Maybe you could present them with this list and have them fill out everything they know or at least what they are thinking.  Spend a little bit of time educating your clients and they won’t try to tell you how to do your job.

Why are you building a website?

• Recruiting
  
• Awareness
  
• Retention
  
• Cost savings efficiency
  
• Commerce
  
• Partnering
  
• Generating leads
  
• Launch a new product
  
• Sales
  
• Promote industry

Personas/Audience Segments

Who will be using the website and what will they search for?

What will your visitors want to do immediately once they get to the website? (let them pee) How will they go about doing that?

Should you be using the web to build community?

• Blog
  
• Forum
  
• Newsletter
  
• Podcasts

If you could only communicate one thing from your website what would that be?

Marketing strategy/launch plan

Where does the website fit into the marketing mix?

How will people find you on the web?

• Brandable URL?
  
• Web Marketing
  
  
  
  • Search Engine Optimization
    
  • Pay-per-click
    
  • Buzz building
    
  • Affiliate Marketing
    
  • Banner ads = waste of money (usually)
    
  • PR
  
  
  
  
• Offline Marketing
  
  
  
  • Print
    
  • Radio
    
  • Flyers
    
  • Direct Mail
    
  • Television
    
  • Billboards
    
  • Trade Shows
  
  
  
  

How will you get people to stay on the website and then comeback later?

• Newsletter
  
• Email opt-in list
  
• RSS feeds
  
• Frequently updated content

Where does this website fit within it’s web ecosystem?