Any website that is to be a success requires some advance preparation and some careful thought. There are some important decisions to be made before a website can be designed and you should only go ahead with the website design when these main factors have been considered.

The first thing to decide is what you want from your website. You need to establish how you intend to get the most for your money, before you even start planning for website design. Effective website planning is made easier by setting website goals. Your website can then be designed to meet those goals.

Setting Website Goals

No website is ever set up without a reason. If its purpose is to sell products or to promote a business, then your aim should be to target the right audience and keep them interested. Your main goal could be to build a strong email list, which will result in more direct sales.

If your goal is to make money with Google AdSense, or any other ad program, you need to start planning the type of website that will earn advertising revenue. Your goals should be to attract as many visitors as possible and to encourage them to keep on viewing content and visiting sites that feature in ad links.

Planning for Website Design

When you have established what you want, in terms of setting website goals, then you can start planning for a website design that will allow you to do this. You should plan to highlight what is most important, not to you but to your visitors. Also consider any security features that might need to be included.

Website visitors need to be able to find what they want, know how to proceed and see which link to click next. In other words the design must feature a strong call to action that makes visitors respond to what they are viewing.

If your new website is intended to showcase your work or your business, then it needs to feature both relevant images and text, possibly with some video content.

A website that is going to be monetized for ad revenue needs careful planning to bring in search engine traffic and visitors from social media sites. You should begin by planning to fill your website with pages that feature informative text, attractive images or useful or entertaining video content.

Effective Website Planning

Effective website planning means that you can achieve your goals, by attracting the right people to the content and reducing the bounce rate.

A well planned website makes it easy for visitors to find what they want and encourages visitors not to leave too soon after finding the web page from a search engine, or through a social media recommendation. When they arrive at a website that is obviously going to meet their needs, visitors will stay, view more content and find things they need being promoted or advertised.

Planning for website design should always begin with setting website goals and establishing what is needed to achieve them. The result of effective website planning is creating a resource that provides exactly what visitors expect. It will encourage people to subscribe to the email list or to follow on social media. Visitors may also decide to make an instant purchase or click on an ad for something they are looking for.

For a website to be a success, it is vital to plan well so that you can get the most for your money. As the saying goes, “fail to plan, plan to fail.”

If you ever needed help planning your website, let one of us at SodaPop Media know and we will be happy to help.