Whether you’re creating your first website, or want to redesign an existing one, here are some questions to ask yourself so that you and your web designer have a shared understanding about the aims and outcomes of the project.
- Do you have an existing domain name?
- What are the limitations of your current site? (if you have one)
- What can your Analytics tell you about your current site? (browsers, country, % mobiles, bounce rate etc)
- Do you already have a charity logo and branding colour scheme?
- Who are the most important audiences for your site (public, government, corporates, etc)
- Where does most of your funding come from? (Grants, contracts, public donations, sponsorship etc)
- Do you have a good library of photos/videos to use online?
- Do you need your website to facilitate online donations? If so, how (link to JustGiving, Paypal form etc)
- What do you want people to think, feel and do having visited your site?
- Realistically, how much content do you expect to generate in an average month?
- Do you need an email newsletter service integrated into the site?
- Do you have a presence on Facebook/Twitter that you would like to feature on the site?
- How will you judge the success of your new site?
- How many people will be adding content to the site? Where are they based?
- What is the technical knowledge of the users like? (are they good at MS Office, Facebook etc?)
- Who is responsible for signing off the web design?
- Who will be the main person in charge of maintaining the site?
- What keywords would you want to rank highly on Google for?
- Do you have an ongoing budget for maintenance/marketing?
- Which 3 other websites do you like the look or functionality of?
- Is most of the copy written for your site already? If not, who will do it and when?
- Can you provide a rough sitemap of your content and the navigation?
