Goals of a Website
The first question you need to ask yourself, and your team, prior to starting a website design and development project is: what is the goal of our website? If you can’t answer that question, you need to take time to work with your team to find the answer. Launching into a website project without knowing what the purpose of your website is a sure way to end up going over time, over budget, and ending up with a site that your organization is …………………………………..not happy with.
Take a look at some examples of terrible Home Page designs:
http://iccmworldwide.org/index2.htm
There are obviously many problems with those three sites Home Pages. Other than bad design, one thing that is frustrating is you have no idea what you are supposed to do when you get to the site. I found myself asking questions like, “what is the purpose of the site?”, “what do these organizations want me to do?”, and “where am I supposed to go from the Home Page?”
A mistake many organizations make when it comes to their website is going through a redesign because they want to look like everyone else. If your site feels dated, get a second opinion from people you respect who are outside of your organization. Create a simple survey and ask peers to walk through and evaluate your site. You should consider asking questions like:
1. What is the goal of our organization?
2. What is the purpose of the website?
3. Were you able to easily navigate website?
4. Was the information on the Home Page clear and concise?
From the responses you get from those questions you will be able to better understand the strengths/weaknesses of your Home Page and overall website. Content is king and whether you have a “dated” website or the coolest most up-to-date design out there – if your user doesn’t understand what you are trying to do or where they are supposed to go, you have lost.