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Where
Do I Start? : Determining Web Site Goals
It
is important to consider the goals of your web site.
What do you want your site to do? How will it help your
business or organization? The four main questions to
ask yourself are:
- What
should the site accomplish?
- How
is the site going to benefit my company or organization?
- What
content should the site contain in order to accomplish
the web site's purpose?
- Is
the content appropriate for the target audience?
We
have listed below some of the common goals used in web
sites for other companies. Again, feel free to print
out this page to refer to when discussing the planning
of your site with other members of your organization.
If you have any questions or would like further explanation,
please don't hesitate to contact
us.
Common
Goals
Advertising
Selling
or Advertising a Product or Service
Disseminating Information
Generating Online Advertising Revenue
or Subscription Revenue
Supporting a Product
A Helpful Information Site
Advertising
This
type of site provides the following types of information:
- General
Information
- Current
Activities Information
- Location
and Direction Information
- Financial
Information
- Contact
Information
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Selling
or Advertising a Product or Service
This
type of site provides the following types of information:
- Product
or Service Information
- Pictures
of Products or Services
- Ordering
Information
- Support
Links or Information
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Disseminating
Information
This
type of site provides the following types of information:
- A
Valuable Source of Information
- Tutorials
or Product Tips
- Newsletter
Related to the Business' Occupation
- Providing
Information on Related Products - the company's site
can be a central hub where visitors can use it to
find related information of interest
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Generating
Online Advertising Revenue or Subscription Revenue
These
type of sites provide ways to generate revenue through
the following types of activities:
- Click
Through Rates
- Affiliate
Programs
- Allows
Users to Subscribe to the Site (to obtain digital
content of some sort)
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Supporting
a Product
This
type of site is good as a method of customer support.
It would provide information on how to use the products
sold via a different method (i.e. a Sony web site to
support Sony products).
Examples
of types of content on this type of site would be:
- FAQ
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Knowledge
Base
- Contact
Information
- On-line
Discussion Group
- Chat
Board On-line Support
- Product
Manuals
- Product
Updates
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A
Helpful Information Site
This
type of site often exists nowadays to support schools.
It can reduce paper flow and help with the situation
of lost papers, by providing a place to store anything
that would appear in print.
This
type of site is used by high schools and local colleges
to provide the following types of information:
- Homework,
Syllabuses, and Current Assignments
- Due
Dates for Important Items
- Copies
of Lectures
- Policies
- such as how grades are calculated and class attendance
policy
- Office
Hours for Teachers
- Course
Descriptions
- Class
Dates and Times
- Registration
Information
- Faculty,
Credentials, and Contact Information
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The
above information was paraphrased from The Effective
Executives Guide to Dreamweaver Web Sites by Stephen
Nelson.
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