This guide is provided to help you plan your web site. Please print out this page and complete the questions. If you want us help answering the questions, just contact us to find out how we can help.

This guide will help you determine your goals and provide a basic requirements document for your web site development.

I. Company Background and Goals

Company

Please provide corporate and industry sector descriptions, including competitors. It is helpful if you critique other web sites. Include contact information and a description of who will be working on the web project. Who is the decision maker?

Project

Develop and state a goal for this project. (Goals can include such things as, branding/identity reinforcement, improved access to information, direct sales, corporate communication, etc.)

What outcome will make this project successful? How will you measure success?

Is there a specific timeline that must be met?

What is the budget for this project? Is there a budget for contingencies, should you decide to add features or functionality?

Describe your current web site, if one exists, and describe how you would like it re-designed.

Do you have logos and other artwork in a electronic format?

Rank the following, in order of importance:

• A web strategy that fits with our corporate strategy
• A web strategy that fits with our marketing strategy
• Re-purposing existing content
• Creating a community of dedicated visitors
• Quality execution (graphics, writing, navigation, etc.)
• Time to market
• Ease of maintenance
• Doing better than our competition on the Web
• People bookmark the site because they get so much out of it regularly
• Staying within the budget
• Sending the message that we know the Web and use it appropriately

II. Who, What, and How?

Who is your target audience?

What types of visitors do you want to attract?

What are your goals for each type of visitor?

What are the products/services involved?

What are your goals for these products/services?

What is the content?

Where will content come from?

Will it be new, re-purposed, or both?

How often will you add new content?

Who will update the content?

How will the web site function?

What data requirements do you believe to be necessary? (e.g., download areas, database-driven web pages, e-commerce, catalog, applications, etc.)

Who will update and maintain the databases?

Are there security concerns?

Are there other technical issues or limitations?

Have you budgeted for hosting and maintenance of the site?

If so, what is your budget?

Who will maintain the site content?

Where will the site be hosted?

What types of legacy systems/databases are in place?

What is your long-term plan for the site?

III. Checking Your Competition

This part of planning is very important. The more effort you put into it, the more your project will benefit. Find at least three high quality sites (more is better) on the Web that relate to your project in the following categories:

• Branding in a similar situation to yours (new company, new brand, established brand, etc.)
• Appeal to same target group of customers
• Colors, look-and-feel, user interface, layout
• Size of the completed web site
• Size of the initial project
• Attracting new people to the site
• Rate your competitors' sites
• Quality of content
• Quality of graphics
• Functionality (what the site does for the customer or the corporation)
• List categories that are important to your site, (i.e. community, special features, responses, other categories important to your project.
• Other favorite sites (state your reasons)