Website Strategy

Having a website strategy will help you steer and ensure that the website is effective, efficient, and aligned with the organization’s overall strategy. You can make a website without creating a website strategy, but a website strategy can help improve the user experience, increase website traffic, and generate more leads and revenue. Reach the goals you’ve set for your website.

What is a website strategy?

A website strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a website will achieve its goals and objectives. It involves defining the purpose of the website, identifying the target audience, creating a content plan, and determining the website’s design and functionality. The strategy should also outline how the website will be marketed, measured, and maintained over time.

A website strategy helps ensure that the website aligns with the organization’s overall goals and objectives. It provides a roadmap for designing, developing, and maintaining a website that delivers value to its users, meets business objectives, and aligns with industry best practices.

A successful website strategy takes into account the website’s target audience, content, design, and functionality, as well as the organization’s marketing and branding goals. It also involves ongoing monitoring and measurement to ensure the website continues to meet its objectives and remain relevant over time.

Why a website strategy?

A website strategy is important because it helps ensure that the website is aligned with business objectives, effectively meets the needs of its target audience, and drives business results:

• Provides direction: A website strategy outlines the goals and objectives of the website, as well as the tactics and actions required to achieve those goals. This provides direction and clarity for the website development process.
• Ensures alignment with business objectives: A website strategy should be aligned with the overall business objectives and priorities of the organization. This helps ensure that the website is contributing to the success of the business.
• Improves user experience: A website strategy takes into account the needs and preferences of the target audience, which can help improve the user experience and make the website more effective at meeting the needs of its users.
• Increases website traffic and engagement: A well-planned website strategy can help increase website traffic and engagement by improving search engine visibility, creating relevant and compelling content, and utilizing effective promotion strategies.
• Enables measurement and evaluation: A website strategy includes key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to measure the effectiveness of the website and make data-driven improvements over time.

Develop a website strategy

Develop a website strategy that aligns with your business goals and helps you achieve measurable results:

1. Website goals
2. Website audience
3. Website audit
4. Website competitors
5. Website content
6. Website design
7. Website technical requirements
8. Website promotion
9. Website maintenance plan

1. Website goals

Determine the primary objectives of your website, such as increasing sales, generating leads, or building brand awareness. To define your website’s goals, follow these steps:

• Review your business objectives: Start by reviewing your organization’s overall business objectives. Determine how your website can support these objectives, whether it’s by increasing sales, generating leads, building brand awareness, or something else.
• Identify specific outcomes: Based on your business objectives, identify specific outcomes that you want your website to achieve. For example, if you want to increase sales, you may set a goal to increase online sales by 20% over the next year.
• Prioritize goals: Prioritize your goals based on their importance and feasibility. Consider which goals are most critical to achieving your business objectives and which ones are realistic given your resources and capabilities.
• Set measurable targets: Once you’ve identified your goals, set specific, measurable targets to track progress and success. For example, if your goal is to generate more leads, you may set a target to increase website form submissions by 30% over the next six months.
• Define key performance indicators (KPIs): Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you track progress towards your goals. KPIs should be specific, measurable, and relevant to your goals.

2. Website audience

Create a clear picture of your target audience and design a website that meets their needs and preferences. This can help you attract more qualified traffic, improve engagement, and increase conversions. To identify your website’s target audience, follow these steps:

• Review your products or services: Start by reviewing the products or services you offer. Consider who they are designed for, what problems they solve, and what benefits they offer.
• Conduct market research: Conduct market research to understand your potential customers’ needs, interests, and preferences. This can include surveys, focus groups, and interviews with existing customers, as well as online research and analysis of competitors.
• Create customer personas: Based on your research, create customer personas that represent your ideal customers. These personas should include demographic information such as age, gender, location, and education, as well as psychographic information such as interests, values, and behaviors.
• Analyze website data: Use website analytics tools to analyze your website’s traffic and user behavior. This can help you identify trends and patterns in your audience’s behavior, such as which pages they visit most often and how long they stay on your site.
• Refine your audience: Refine your target audience based on your research and data analysis. Consider factors such as the size of your audience, their level of engagement with your website, and their likelihood to convert into customers.

3. Website audit

Evaluate your existing website’s strengths and weaknesses, including its content, design, functionality, and user experience. A website audit can provide valuable insights into the website’s performance, identify areas for improvement, and help to create a plan to optimize the website for better performance, user experience, and conversions.To make an audit of an existing website, you can follow these steps:

• Identify the purpose and goals of the website: Begin by understanding the website’s purpose and goals, including the target audience, industry, and competition.
• Analyze website traffic: Use website analytics tools to gather data on website traffic, including the number of visitors, time on site, bounce rate, and other metrics.
• Evaluate website content: Review the website’s content to ensure that it is relevant, up-to-date, and engaging for the target audience. Check for any missing pages, broken links, or duplicate content.
• Assess website design and user experience: Analyze the website’s design and user experience to ensure that it is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and functional across all devices.
• Check website speed and performance: Use website speed test tools to evaluate the website’s loading time and performance. Slow-loading websites can negatively impact user experience and search engine rankings.
• Review website security: Check for any security vulnerabilities, such as outdated software or weak passwords, that could compromise the website’s security.
• Evaluate search engine optimization (SEO): Analyze the website’s SEO to ensure that it is optimized for search engines, including keywords, meta descriptions, and title tags.
• Review website accessibility: Check the website’s accessibility to ensure that it meets the accessibility standards, including alt text for images, captions for videos, and proper formatting for text.
• Identify opportunities for improvement: Based on the audit findings, identify opportunities for improvement, prioritize them, and create an action plan to implement the changes.

4. Website competitors

Analyze your competitors’ websites and identify industry trends to inform your website strategy. This can help you identify opportunities to improve your own website and create a competitive advantage. To analyze your competitors’ websites, follow these steps:

• Identify your competitors: Make a list of your top competitors in your industry or niche.
• Evaluate their website design: Look at the design of their website. Is it visually appealing? Is the website easy to navigate? Does it load quickly?
• Evaluate their website content: Look at the content on their website. What kind of information do they provide? Is the content well-written and informative? Is it optimized for search engines?
• Evaluate their website functionality: Look at the functionality of their website. Is it mobile-friendly? Is the website easy to use on different devices? Does it have any unique features or functionality?
• Evaluate their website traffic: Use website analytics tools to evaluate their website traffic. Look at their traffic sources, bounce rate, time on site, and other key metrics.
• Evaluate their social media presence: Look at their social media profiles. How many followers do they have? What kind of content do they share? What social media channels do they use?
• Identify their strengths and weaknesses: Based on your analysis, identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This can help you identify opportunities to differentiate your own website.

5. Website content

Determine the types of content that will resonate with your target audience and align with your website goals. A content strategy that engages your target audience, drives website traffic, and supports your overall business goals.To create a content strategy for your website, follow these steps:

• Define your target audience: Identify your target audience and their needs and interests.
• Set your goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your content, such as increasing website traffic, generating leads, or improving brand awareness.
• Conduct keyword research: Use keyword research tools to identify relevant keywords and topics that your target audience is searching for.
• Develop a content plan: Create a plan for the types of content you will create, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media posts. Identify the frequency and timing of your content creation.
• Create a content calendar: Create a content calendar that outlines when and where you will publish your content. This helps ensure that you are consistently creating and sharing valuable content.
• Optimize your content: Optimize your content for search engines by using relevant keywords, creating engaging headlines and meta descriptions, and using internal and external links.
• Promote your content: Share your content on social media, email newsletters, and other channels to increase its reach and engagement.
• Measure and refine: Use website analytics tools to measure the performance of your content. Analyze metrics such as page views, time on page, and engagement to refine your content strategy over time.

6. Website design

Define the visual style and user interface of your website, including color schemes, typography, and imagery. Create a design strategy that supports your website’s goals, engages your target audience, and strengthens your brand identity. To create a design strategy for your website, follow these steps:

• Define your brand identity: Identify your brand’s visual identity, such as your logo, color palette, typography, and other brand elements.
• Determine your website’s purpose: Determine what you want your website to accomplish and who your target audience is. This information will help you create a design that appeals to your audience and supports your website’s goals.
• Conduct user research: Conduct user research to identify your audience’s needs and preferences. This research can help you create a design that meets your audience’s expectations and addresses their pain points.
• Create wireframes: Develop wireframes that outline the structure of your website. These wireframes will serve as a blueprint for your design and help you ensure that your website is easy to navigate and use.
• Choose a design style: Choose a design style that aligns with your brand identity and appeals to your target audience. Consider factors such as color, typography, imagery, and layout when selecting a design style.
• Create a design system: Develop a design system that outlines the rules and guidelines for using your brand’s visual elements. This system will help ensure that your website’s design is consistent and cohesive.
• Prototype and test: Create prototypes of your design and test them with users to ensure that they are easy to use and meet your audience’s needs.
• Implement and iterate: Implement your design and continue to iterate and refine it based on user feedback and analytics. Regularly review your website’s design to ensure that it continues to meet your audience’s needs and supports your business goals.

7. Website technical requirements

Determining the technical requirements for a website involves identifying the software, hardware, and other technical components necessary to support the website’s functionality and performance. Here are some steps you can take to determine the technical requirements for your website:

• Identify the website’s functionality: Make a list of the features and functionalities your website needs to have, such as e-commerce capabilities, a contact form, or a blog. This will help you determine the technical requirements to support these features.
• Determine the website’s traffic and load requirements: Consider how much traffic your website is likely to receive, and how much load it will need to handle. This will help you determine the hardware and hosting requirements, such as server capacity and bandwidth.
• Choose a content management system (CMS): Select a CMS that meets your needs, such as WordPress or Drupal. This will help you determine the software requirements for your website.
• Select programming languages and frameworks: Determine which programming languages and frameworks you’ll need to use to build your website, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or PHP.
• Decide on website hosting: Choose a hosting provider and package that meets your website’s needs. This will determine the technical requirements for your server and hosting environment.
• Consider security and maintenance: Make sure you have a plan in place for website security and maintenance, including regular updates and backups.

8. Website promotion

Developing a promotion strategy for a website involves identifying target audiences, determining appropriate channels, creating content, and tracking results. Promote your website and drive traffic to it, including search engine optimization, social media marketing, and paid advertising. Here are some steps you can take to develop a promotion strategy for your website:

• Identify your target audience: Determine who your target audience is and what they’re interested in. This will help you tailor your messaging and choose appropriate channels.
• Choose your promotion channels: Identify the channels that are most effective for reaching your target audience, such as social media, email marketing, or paid advertising.
• Create content: Develop engaging content that resonates with your target audience and reflects your brand’s voice and values. This can include blog posts, infographics, videos, or social media content.
• Set a promotion budget: Determine how much you’re willing to spend on promoting your website, and allocate your budget across channels accordingly.
• Measure your results: Track your website’s traffic, engagement, and conversions to evaluate the effectiveness of your promotion strategy. Use this data to refine your approach and make improvements over time.
• Adjust your strategy: Continually review and adjust your promotion strategy based on your results and feedback from your audience.

9. Website maintenance plan

Creating a maintenance plan for a website is important to ensure that it stays secure, updated, and optimized for performance. Here are some steps you can take to create a maintenance plan for your website:

• Conduct a website audit: Review your website’s code, content, and design to identify areas that require attention, such as broken links, outdated content, or slow load times.
• Create a maintenance schedule: Determine how often you need to perform maintenance tasks, such as updating plugins, reviewing security settings, or checking for broken links.
• Assign responsibilities: Assign specific tasks to team members or contractors, and establish clear expectations for when and how each task should be completed.
• Set up monitoring tools: Use website monitoring tools to track website uptime, performance, and security, and receive alerts if issues arise.
• Back up your website regularly: Set up regular backups of your website’s files and database, and store them in a secure location.
• Test updates before deploying them: Before installing updates, plugins, or other changes, test them in a staging environment to ensure that they don’t cause any issues on your live website.
• Plan for emergency situations: Create a plan for handling emergencies such as website downtime, security breaches, or data loss.
• Review and update the plan regularly: Review your maintenance plan regularly to ensure that it remains relevant and effective, and update it as needed based on changes to your website or business.

Get website strategy inspiration

Finding inspiration for developing a website strategy can be done in several ways:

• Researching competitor websites: Analyzing the websites of competitors or industry leaders can give you inspiration for what works well and what could be improved in your own website strategy.
• Looking at successful websites outside of your industry: Examining successful websites from other industries can help you identify emerging trends and ideas that you could adapt to your own website strategy.
• Exploring design and marketing blogs: Following design and marketing blogs can help you stay up-to-date on the latest best practices and trends in website development and promotion.
• Conducting surveys or focus groups: Gathering feedback from your target audience through surveys or focus groups can help you better understand their needs and preferences, which can inform your website strategy.
• Seeking input from internal stakeholders: Collaborating with internal stakeholders, such as employees or business partners, can provide valuable insights and ideas for your website strategy.

Website purpose

A website exists (The purpose) for various reasons, depending on the individual or organization creating it. A website is a powerful tool that allows individuals and organizations to communicate, interact, and achieve various goals online. Some of the most common reasons for creating a website are:

• Providing information: Websites can be created to provide information about a company, product, service, or any other topic of interest.
• Promoting a business: Websites can be used to promote a business, attract customers, and increase sales.
• Offering products or services: Websites can be used to offer products or services
• Sharing ideas or opinions: Websites can be created to share ideas, opinions, and experiences on a particular topic, such as a blog or forum.
• Providing services: Websites can be created to provide various services, such as online shopping, booking appointments, or accessing educational resources.
• Establishing credibility: Websites can be used to establish credibility and build trust with customers or followers.
• Connecting with others: Websites can be used to connect with like-minded individuals or communities, such as social networking sites.

Why do people go online?

The internet has become an essential tool for modern life, providing access to information, communication, entertainment, and much more. People go online for a wide variety of reasons, including:

• Information and knowledge: Many people use the internet to search for information, such as news articles, research studies, or instructions on how to do something.
• Communication: The internet is a powerful tool for communication, allowing people to connect with others via email, social media, or messaging apps.
• Entertainment: People also use the internet for entertainment, such as streaming movies or music, playing games, or watching online videos.
• Shopping: Online shopping has become increasingly popular, with people buying everything from clothing to groceries from online retailers.
• Work and education: The internet is used for work-related activities such as remote working and attending online meetings, as well as for education, such as online courses and research.
• Social networking: Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow people to connect and interact with others online.
• Personal growth and development: People also go online to learn new skills, connect with communities, and engage in self-improvement activities.

More information

MailChimp: 10 Steps to Create a Website Strategy
IMPACT: Your 2023 Website Strategy Must Include These 6 Things
MBO Partners: How to Develop a Website Strategy to Meet Your Goals
Smashing Magazine: Strategic Design: 6 Steps For Building Successful Websites
HubSpot: The Ultimate Guide to Building a Website Redesign Strategy
WordStream: A Beginner’s Guide to Content Strategy for the Web: 10 Things You Need to Know