Planning a website relaunch? Questions to Ask Internally

In the past we have been asked to come up a list of guiding questions that potential clients should answer before engaging us in a web project. We are providing this list here to help everyone—whether you choose to become a client of Sawaya Consulting or another firm.

OVERALL QUESTIONS

Why are you interested in a redesign of your website?

It is simply time for a refresh? Have you noticed market changes that you need to adapt to?

What is your target audience?

Who are your customers? How do they find you?

What role do you see your website playing for your company?

How important is your website? Is it a small component of your brand, is it the main way you gain customers? etc.

How much time will you spend interacting with your website?

Do you intend to launch this site and leave it alone? Will you be on the site daily, weekly, monthly with updates?

Do you know what pages you want to add / delete / change?

Or are you looking for overall guidance?

YOUR CURRENT WEBSITE

What does your current website do well?

What does your current website do poorly?

Are you running any kind of analytics on your current website to track visits, source, duration of visit, etc?

Will we be able to gain access to this information to help us plan the rebuild?

SUCCESS / GOAL TRACKING

What action do you want a visitor to your website to complete?

Do you want a visitor to call you? Fill out a contact form? Download a white paper?

What will you consider to be success with your site redesign?

Are you trying to garner more web hits, gain more clients, be more current, interact with your customer base more?

SITE BUILD & TECHNOLOGY

Where is your website currently hosted? Will you be staying with this hosting provider?

Your website hosting company determines to some extent which programming languages can be used.

What technology are you interested in incorporating?

If you have special requests for Ajax, Drupal, etc.

How will your website be updated?

Do you have the ability to edit HTML on staff? Are you interested in a Content Management System to edit your site? How in-depth would this system need to be?

Are you interested in incorporating Social Media?

Do you already have Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc

What is your level of SEO and SEM knowledge?

Are you familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Do you already have a keyword list that is performing or a list that you want to target? Will you be promoting your site with Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

AS SEEN ON THE WEB

What sites do you like?

This doesn’t have to be related to your business, just general sites on the web that you like. Look for colors, look and feel, navigation, elements, user interface, etc.

What sites do you dislike?

What are you competitor sites?

Provide three to five.

TIME & COST

What is your budget?

Depending on the firm you go with a website can be anywhere from $1,000+. We build websites in the $5,000 – $60,000 range.

What is your timeline?

Are there other events that are impacting your timeline, like a tradeshow, media campaign, etc?

SAWAYA Consulting is a strategic business-to-business partner focusing on information management through design & technology. We build corporate tools, informational websites, and web applications.

Do you have a project that might be a good fit?
Drop us a line, give us a ring, hit us up on chat, send us a tweet.
Let’s get together and discuss your project.