Tamir Berkman works at FRANk media

I usually don’t start with thinking about building a website. I will
first recommend taking a look at your existing online profile, what
your competitors are doing, the industry and, of course, your target
audience. The five reasons below were used to educate a client on why
they didn’t need to re-do their website without following a digital
strategy exercise. A digital strategy will help you understand the
threats and opportunities for your brand and to think about creating a
web experience instead of a website.

So, why should I think about online strategy?

1. Because … your website is a marketing tool. Your website
   has a purpose – to retain people’s attention and sell them on
   something. But there is no point building a website without thinking
   how people will hear about it. The truth is that a website is like a
   store. You still need to advertise the fact that you have one. So the
   best way to start building a website is planning. Not only where the
   buttons go or which information will be displayed. We want to find out
   how we can differentiate ourselves from our competitors, give our
   customers what they need and keep them coming back. Think about it this
   way: a website without a strategy is like a building without an
   architect.

2. Because … a website is not enough anymore. OK, so you
   have a website. In most cases googling yourself will show you that
   website followed by competitors or other links that are not yours! Why
   not try and have more touch points on the first page of google? Giving
   people more opportunities to check you out and make sure you’re
   catering for first time visitors as well as people who already know
   you. There are many things you can do online and your strategy should
   have a mix of them.

3. Because … your audience is not the same. Today’s
   audience is savvy, time poor and used to advertising. Oh yeah, and for
   most of them the internet is the number one choice of media. But the
   internet is huge and if attention is the new currency we need to make
   sure people will pay attention to our offering. Another flash website
   won’t cut it. How about regularly updated content or some sort of
   community or a game? These are things we need to think about before the
   website is built.

4. Because … time and money are things you don’t want to
   rush with. There is no point building a website for $30,000 only to
   find out it’s not achieving your goals. The first thing you need to do
   is to come up with a plan that will save you money and get you to where
   you want to be. Maybe the best thing to do is to invest in a different
   online presence. Have an internal blog or offer some real benefits for
   your users.

5. Because … a website isn’t done when it’s done. Building
   a website is only the beginning. How will you market it? Who will talk
   about it? Who will contribute to it? How will people engage with it?
   How easy it is to change? Will it be out of date in two months? There
   is no point building a website until you can answer these questions.

I really hope this client will ask the right questions before saying
yes to their new website. If they’ll decide to do it, I bet you nothing
will change. Oh, except the layout.