How to Plan a Successful Website: With Steps!
If you’re here it’s because you’ve decided, you want to build a website- love this! Here’s the truth, a successful website starts with a solid plan. Without a plan, the website might look nice, but may miss the key points you’re trying to achieve, such as, attracting the right visitors and guiding them to where you want them to go. So below, I’ll walk you through the steps of planning the essentials prior to developing your site.
Let’s walk through the steps:
What is your goal? Ask yourself what you intend to use the website for. Is it to publish a blog, generate sales, or showcase a portfolio? Understanding your end goal is essential to choosing the correct format for your website.
Who is your audience? Who are you building this site for? It’s not for everyone, so decide the core group of people you are trying to influence and build community with.
Create the backbone of your website. Think what pages you need. For example, you may need a home page, an about me page, and a blog page. Mapping this out early gives you the foundation for your website.
Decide on your users’ journey. How will visitors move through your site? Guiding people to where you want them to act is essential in getting your desired result.
Build a content calendar. Plan content early. Content is the bread and butter of your operation; it’s what people are going to see when they visit your site and it’s what’s going to determine if they stay or go.
Determine your platform. It’s essential that you pick the platform that matches your goals. Examples of platforms include WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace.
Conclusion
It’s essential that you develop a solid plan prior to creating your website. Yes, planning might not be the most glamorous part when creating a website. However, it is essential in the process as it separates the sites with questionable presence and SEO from the powerful sites that captivates users’ attention and land on the front page of Google’s search engine.
