Project Questionnaire

1. Background

1.1 What is the primary product/service you will be offering?

1.2 What is your USP (unique selling proposition) for this product/service?

1.3 What is the primary purpose of the site?

  • Branding and Marketing
    • Request More Information
    • Entice physical visits to place of business
    • Sign up for Newsletter(s)
    • Read Blog
  • Acquire sales prospects
    • Contact business by phone/email
  • Generate immediate sales of the product/service

1.4 Who is your target audience?

  • Age, Gender, Education, Income, Location, etc.

1.5 What should the Tone of the site be?

  • Professional, Techie, Personal, etc..

1.6 Do you have any design parameters that must be adhered to?

  • Load times
  • Browser resolutions
  • Browser type(s)
  • Internet and/or Intranet

2. Budget

This information won't be used to charge as much as possible, it will be used to ensure that you're getting the best possible solution for the money you have to spend.  In some cases, you may have more to spend than is necessary to meet your needs.  On other cases, what you envision for your site may not be possible with your budget. The great thing about the web is that your site can grow with your success.  What may not be possible starting out can be added later. 

Along with your initial design budget, you should be allocating funds for on-going upkeep. Depending on your expectations and your business, this amount could be as little as $100.00 a month and as much as necessary to get the results you need and want.

2.1 What is the initial budget for site development?

2.2 What is the on-going budget for maintenance, updates and marketing?

3. Goals

3.1 What quantitative goals do you have for the site initially?

  • Sales
  • Brand Awareness
  • Site Traffic
  • Search Engine Placement

3.2 What quantitative goals do you have for the site 1 year, 3 years and 5 years?

  • Sales
  • Brand Awareness
  • Site Traffic
  • Search Engine Placement

4. Knowledge

4.1 On a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the highest), how would your rate knowledge of the following?

  • Web Programming (HTML, ASP, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, AJAX, etc..)
  • Web Applications (Dreamweaver, SQL Server, Access, MySQL, Fireworks, Photoshop, etc...)
  • Web Services (Blogs, RSS Readers, Basecamp, Highrise, Google Docs, ZOHO, Blinksale, Freshbooks, PayPal, etc...)
  • Email Clients (Outlook, Outlook Express, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc...)
  • Web Browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Flock, Opera, etc..)
  • Computer Platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc...)

5. Technology

5.1 What is the preferred server platform for the site?

5. 2 Will the site need a database back-end?

5.3 Will the site need a shopping cart and payment processing?

5.4 Will you be implementing RSS feeds?

5.5 What applications are you currently using to manage your business?

  • Online
  • Offline

6. Marketing

6.1 Will you be using Email Marketing such as Newsletters, Announcements, Promotions, etc..?

6.2 Will you be using Blog(s) to promote the site and business?

6.3 Will you be using PPC (pay per click) advertising to drive traffic to the site?

6.4 What offline activities will you use to promote the site?

6.5 Will you be implementing on-going SEO (search engine optimization) ?

7. Content

7.1 Who will be responsible for writing the content for the site?

7.2 How often will you be updating exiting content for the site?

7.3 How often will you be adding new content to the site?

8. Design

8.1 What are some examples of sites that look like what you want?

8.2 What are some examples of sites that function like what you want?

8.3 What will the primary colors of the site be?

8.4 Do you have a Site Map of all the sections you need for the site?

Things to Consider

Your web site is an ongoing endeavor. As your business and success grows, so should your web site.  Regular updates are not only a primary way to improve your search engine rankings, but they also indicate to your visitors that you're continually growing and striving to improve your business and the products and/or services your provide.  You should view your web site as a work in progress.  Your needs change, your customer's needs change, technology changes...to be truly successful on the web, you must be ready to adapt and change.  If you view your web site as a "one shot deal", there might be better ways to spend your money for your business.

Next Steps

I would like an opportunity to discuss your web site needs with you. Initial consultation is FREE of charge. If you would like more information about my services, please Contact me.