Does your website have a business plan?
Australian’s will spend $13 billion online this year. Half of us will spend around 75% of our total shopping time doing online research. Over 90% of us will start our research with a search engine like Google. Around 75% of us have a Facebook account and 49% of internet users have a Twitter account.
Most organisations have a business plan but they don’t seem to have one for online where more and more business is actually taking place. They don’t have a website business plan.
Its seems that, despite the compelling facts around online behaviour, most organisations set about designing and developing websites with very little strategic planning. Sure, they look at branding, navigation and all the usual generic information. Sure, they draw up an impressive looking sitemap. But that’s not a plan.
A professional website business plan should address the following questions:
- What are your core objectives?
- Who are your target markets?
- Who are your competitors and what are they doing online?
- What are you opportunities online?
- How well are you resourced for a successful online presence?
- What are / will be your communications options?
Our recommended approach to web design and development is to actually start at the end; the core objectives and calls-to-action. By knowing these you can then create a strategy designed to deliver these results taking into account:
- Content
- Social media
- Search engine optimisation (SEO)
- Conversion strategies
- Database management
Your website can be one of your most valuable business assets. As such, it deserves the sort of strategic planning that will deliver great results for many years. Don’t begin with a logo and some cool graphics; a website business plan should be your starting point. Its all part of effective 360 Degree Digital Marketing.
Categories: 360 Degree Digital Marketing, Inbound marketing