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Construct a Mission Statement
The first steps in site development are to construct an effective
mission statement and establish clear, customer oriented goals.
These give the site direction and purpose, and serve as the
framework in guiding the site development process.
Begin with a brainstorm session to gather ideas. From the
session, you should be able to determine why the site should
be built, define the audience, and finally, develop your site
mission statement and goals.
Brainstorm
Ask and answer some questions abut your organization, your
audience, and the purpose of your site. Get a group together
for this if you can. The more ideas the better. Jot down any
ideas that come to mind, no matter how silly they may seem.
Some of the best ideas come from what may appear to be the
absurd.
Your Organization
Are you providing a product or a service? What do you want
to provide online? Will your online business be different
than your current mission? Begin to consider what the purpose
of the site will be.
Your Audience
Once you have an idea about what you will offer online, ask
who will want what you will provide. This is the first and
most important question you must ask and answer. If your site
is based on your organization's goals rather than on your
customer's goals, the audience will pick up on it right away.
They want to know what's in it for them, not for you.
Jot a list of prospective visitors to your site. There will
be more than just your potential customers. For instance,
most visitors to my website design site will be shopping for
a site developer, but others could be wanting to build their
own site, my competition could be doing research, design teams
might be looking for a freelancer, and still others may be
looking for advertising space on the pages.
Great Expectations
Why will people visit your site and what will they expect
to find when they arrive? Are you providing a product or a
service? Why would your visitors choose your organization
over your competitors'? Will the user visit the site once,
or will they need or want to return for further business or
support? What can be done to encourage return visits?
Organize the Information
Now that you know your audience, the purpose of your site
and how your organization will function online, you can begin
to develop a statement and the site goals.
Form Your Mission Statement
Revisit the company's mission. See if your mission and the
user's needs coincide. You may find that your organization's
mission may be different than what is needed online.
Firm up the online mission statement. Your mission should
state WHAT you want to do on your site and WHO you will do
it for. Do not address HOW in your mission statement. Your
goals will be the "how".
Ideally, an effective mission statement:
- Contains a single subject.
- Is results-oriented: The first word is "To".
The second is an action verb stating what you want to do.
"Provide," rather than "sell," is customer
oriented, and will effect the tone of the site. Choose your
words carefully.
- Is worded clearly and contains no jargon.
- States what will be done and when.
- Contains a statement that is measurable so the site's
effectiveness can be periodically evaluated.
Form your goals
Try to anticipate what each audience's goals are when they
visit. Then start ranking: List your most common audience
first and rank their most common needs. Do this for each of
your audiences. When you're done, your list will yield your
site's goals. Yes, you read right: Your goals should be exactly
the same as your audiences' goals. Why? This is such an important
concept, and one that is so frequently overlooked that I've
devoted the 
Cluetrain Manifesto article to it.
Site Structure also addresses user needs and why it is
essential to accommodate them.
Finally, once your short term goals are envisioned, the long
term goals will guide the design process toward the ability
to expand.
Formalize and post
Document your mission statement and your short and long term
goals. Post them in a conspicuous place and refer to them
frequently during the website development process. If the
mission and goals make a home in the back of your mind, your
design will remain on track, with the focus where it needs
to remain.
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