• STEP 1: Set Your Goals
  1. Why do you want a web site?
  The first step is to identify the reasons for creating a website and how it will fit into your overall goals.
  You need to identify your strengths and opportunities, and how they tie with your plan of creating a web site.
  You also need to look into the threats and weaknesses that can adversely affect your plans and derail your goals.
  2. How does a web site fit your overall business plan?
• What will a website do for you and your business?
• A website may be your meal ticket and the main income source; or it may be for additional income. If you have an existing business, it can be used as a marketing tool, additional revenue source, or a springboard of an entirely different business model.
• Some of the key questions you need to ask include:
  Do you want to earn money directly from your website? Is it supposed to be profitable?
  Is your website simply for marketing purposes, with no direct revenue generation objectives?
  Will your website be used solely for customer and/or technical support?
  Is your website part of a multi-channel strategy (e.g. you run a brick and mortar store or a catalog together with a website)? Or is it a single channel strategy (e.g. you are an Internet pure play business)?
  Or will your website be an information source?