The Well and the Cathedral

I noticed that I asked each new client the same questions, so I created a way for clients to organize their thoughts and ideas about what they want in a website.  I drew from my knowledge of information organization, branding, graphic design, and current technologies to narrow all of the ideas and concepts clients have into a feasible, executable project with a defined scope.

Introduction

This workbook is meant for you to define your ideas about what you want and need in a website. You may have brilliant ideas about the colors, the videos you’d like to include and more, but first it’s important to address some structural issues as well as carefully consider your audience and the purpose of your web presence.

Because it’s important to start at the root, this workbook begins with the purpose and audience you’re looking for. It then moves to structure, providing defining questions relevant to the structure of your own work, products, or services, and how you show that structure to other people. After establishing the why, who, and the basic information architecture of your site, you can confront the content: the look, feel, the text and photos.

This exercise should help you define exactly what you’re looking for, give you a strong foundation, and help me better understand what you’re looking for and how to execute the project.

Some of the questions are more important for you and some are more important for me. The more you can articulate your objectives, the better the end product will be. I have print copies of this workbook, but if you prefer an electronic version you can copy and paste the text into a word processing document and send it back.

Audience

Who do you want to visit the website (i.e. expecting mothers, people shopping for handmade handbags, someone searching for a local caterer)? Also include relevant demographics.

What would you like people to do while visiting your website?

What do you want people to read about while on your website?

What actions should people take after visiting your website?

How do you plan on using your website in conjunction with other forms of promotion? What kinds of promotion do you use?

What words would a visitor type into a search engine to get to your website (write down anything that comes to mind!).

Structure

Do you offer just one service or product? If you offer more than one, list either each service/product or 2-5 categories your services/products fit into.

If your services are not easily categorized, how might you divide up the information? List possible divisions.

What other categories might be useful for a person learning more about your work?

How often do you see the website changing?

Do you want to be able to make changes yourself?

Are your customers/clients interested in hearing regular updates about your life and work?

Do you have any information you want to make sure the viewer sees first before moving on to the rest of the site?

If you make art or handmade dry goods, do you sell them on the internet already?

What site do you use?

How do you see this integrating with your personal website?

Check the information you’d like to include in your site. Think about whether this information needs its own page or if it can/should be combined with other information.

• Introduction to what you offer

• Your biography or a list of bios

• Gallery (good for artwork and handmade goods)

• Blog (one or several people can update this)

• History of your business or organization

• Contact information

• Map or/and driving directions

• Listing of products/services (includes photos)

• Why to use your product/service (benefits)

• External links to other sites

• Information about your suppliers

• Mission (& vision, values, etc)

• Experience

• Prices/rates/etc.

• Testimonials

What other information is important to present? What makes you/your service or goods/etc. special?

Do you have any photos or other media already prepared that you’d like to include?

Should this media be one of the first things people see, or should they be looking for specific photos?

Remember that you don’t want people to have to scroll through tons of information on the first page they see. It’s better to have several pages with manageable information about specific topics rather than one long page that’s difficult to read.

Are you willing to do all of the copywriting for the site? I prefer this since you have a better idea of what you’re going for and know more about your work. I can edit your text to the best of my capabilities.

Taking into account the categories you came up with, the information you have to present, and the information you decided needed its own page, take some time to visualize the structure of your site. It should end up looking like a family tree with a few pages branching off of a main page. The homepage should be in the middle.

Look and Feel

Do you have a logo that you want to use?
If so, do you have access to an electronic copy of this?

Do you have colors associated with your service?

If yes, do you have RGB or CMYK identifiers for these colors?

If no, did you work with a designer for your logo/colors who might have information about the exact color used? Can you contact this person and obtain identification for the color?

If you don’t think anyone knows the exact color used, please have an example ready.

If you don’t have colors associated with your service, do you have any ideas about what colors you’d like your website to have? What do you imagine?

What do you want people to feel when they read about your service, i.e. calm, excited, creative, stylish, healthy?

If you have a product or artwork you want to display, is there a particular color or pattern that stands out?

Perhaps most important of all, do you have an idea of what you want your URL to be?

Getting it Done

Please consider the following questions. We can get together to create a contract and invoice sheet tailored to meet the needs of this project.

When does this project need to be finished?

Will you want to have me continue to update and provide services?

Would you be interested in some tutoring so you are self-sufficient in making changes?