One of the most difficult, but key components of the Internet marketing process is to design your website to achieve the goals you have set for your business.  But this critical step is usually the one business people skip, or just leave it to their web designer to consider, which can be even more damaging to their overall goals. 

The process of carefully planning the outline of a new website or upgrade to an existing website will secure for you not only a vehicle to show off your business in the best light, but also one that you are able to control the process of updating content, and, most importantly, achieve your business goals.  Below are a number of steps to follow while planning your new website:

1.  Create a list of anything your website visitors will want to know about the product or service you are offering.  For example, visitors to a school’s website would probably want to know the attendance levels, size of the classrooms, information on staff members and what sports they can participate in.  Take the time to brainstorm as many areas related to your product, service or industry that someone might be interested in when visiting the website.

2.  Put yourself into the visitor’s shoes.  Visit and review some websites similar to the one you will offer as if you were a potential customer.  As a visitor, what do you like and dislike about each site?  Does the website inspire you to take further action?  How easily can you find what you are looking for? How many times do you have to click to find what you are looking for?  Take notes on all this information with the purpose of making your own website as visitor friendly as possible.

3.  Research to find out what keywords your visitors might search for. There are free keyword search tools through Google that are completely adequate for this type of research.  Enter a general phrase related to your product or service, such as “coffee filters” and other related keywords will appear.  These are the topics that people are searching for already.  With this information in hand, you can plan your website to feature content that answers people’s questions. 

4.  Plan your new website so that it can expand.  Don’t be lured into a website format that won’t let you expand easily to add new content pages or products.  You will find that building a great website is a constant work in progress. 

5.  The final thing to keep in mind is that you want to be able to control your new website, rather than be at the mercy of your web designer to make even the simplest of changes.   Today’s dynamic Internet marketing environment demands new and fresh content added to your website often, and the old fashioned sites that rely on a web developer to make changes just won’t work anymore.  Your new website should be on a platform that lets you add content quickly and easily.

Your website is most often one of the biggest marketing expenses your business will encounter.  Don’t waste it with an inferior website that doesn’t support your business objectives. 

Marty Dickinson is the founder of HereNextYear, Inc., a full service Internet marketing company in business for over 10 years. His specialty is Internet marketing solutions for the small business owner, speakers and authors. Visit to see what HereNextYear has to offer and to learn more about their innovative new website packages fully integrated for ease with social networking and other Internet marketing strategies.

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