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Jeremy Clarkson described the various models of the Lotus Elite as
being synonymous to Deep Purple: "First they released on vinyl, then
CD, now MD, and soon MP3, but the music is still Deep Purple". Planning
is the same: irrespective of the underlying technologies a good business
plan contains the same elements.
Implementing your Web Site is like any other business venture. You
would not embark on a major marketing campaign without a business plan,
or understanding what you want to achieve from the exercise, so what
is different about a Web Site?
Planning
The planning for a Web Site has a number of steps that are essentially
the same for all new business ventures.
- Create Clear Objectives This is probably the most important step.
If you do not have specific goals and objectives you will not be able
to measure the success of the project. Without defined milestones
how do you know when the project is complete?
- Define your strategy How are you going to implement your business
plan? What are the main strategic advantages of having a Web Site?
Identify a possible development path.
- Identify your budget How much are you intending to spend on this
project? Keep in mind that the actual development costs of a Web Site
do not represent your total investment. There will be ongoing costs
from both the Web Site hosting, site maintenance, and your staff's
time.
- Understand the technical issues As with any venture involving technology
there are certain factors that constrain the development. Understanding
these limitations allows informed decisions to be made. These issues
will be examined in a later article.
- Modify your Business Processes By creating a Web presence you are
changing a fundamental part of your business. You will need to modify
your business processes to cater for the introduction of the new technology.
Concepts
Notice that up until now there has been no mention of the content
of the site. First the foundations need to be built and secure before
the building can start.
There are five main considerations regarding Web Site concepts:
- What is the Site trying to achieve? This ties in closely with your
business plan. What type of site do you want: a brochure, an information
site, a shop, or an interactive experience?
- What Business requirement is being satisfied? You have identified
a business requirement. Does this fulfil it? Does it also leave room
for development at a later stage?
- Who is your target audience? What is the market sector you are
targeting? Different audiences demand different content and styles.
Does your proposed site cater for all your visitors?
- What do they want to see? What type of information does your target
market want to see? In a business to business environment the site
content will be vastly different to, say, a youth's information site.
What added value will you build in to encourage visitors to return,
and recommend others?
- What do you want to portray? Finally what is the message that you
want to get across? This point is deliberately last because you need
to satisfy your visitors interests otherwise you will loose them to
your competitors. Often what they are looking for and what you want
to show them are the same, but you need to make sure you have the
right bait on the hook to catch the fish.
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