Why creating your website with a game plan already in mind saves so much time

Website Planning Checklist - What is it? Who is it for? How will it save me time?

So you're a new business owner or an established business owner and you want to create your website. It's an exciting yet sometimes (or let's be honest) often, stressful time.  You want to get your website up and going, and you want to do it right.  Yet, you want to just start serving your customers already and have them be able to easily find and stay in touch with you. Where will you focus your time? ...and to complicate things for you further, the modern online landscape has you questioning, 'Do I even need a website?' (As a trainer, I get asked this question all the time.)

A little reassurance - If you're in it to serve your customers for the long haul, your very own website as a hub, is yes, the right way to go! You're doing (or planning to do) the right thing. Social media profiles and individual landing pages are great and important too, but they still (yes, even in 2017) can't even compare to the flexibility, credibility and possibility potential of having your own established website. Your website helps you build authority both on and offline, with search engines & with customers.  

While you can have plenty of web space akin to rental and vacation properties, your very own website is truly your home sweet home online and its where your customers will always know that they can find you. It gives them a sense of stability, trust and reliability that they just can't quite get from a landing page or a social media account.  

Let's say you're a restaurant.  You could host your menu on Yelp or a Facebook page, but wouldn't it be easier for your customers to simply type in your restaurant name or food + your location, pull up your website in the search results and go right to the correct page and menu?  ...without any of the distractions of Yelp ads or the usual 'shiny object' syndrome that exists across any type of social media. Only on your website can you truly serve up the information your customer is looking for in a deliberate manner, organized on your terms and show them where to go or what to do next (with minimal distraction). 

With that all said, you're probably thinking 'great, so I know I need a website... and this helps me to reaffirm, but what do I do or where do I go next?' How do I cover all my bases? What should I say on my website? How much is too much or what is too little?  Well, that's exactly where a 'Website Planning Checklist' comes in and why you really need a game plan (a simple framework) going in. This will help you to Simply Take Action. Sure, there may be hurdles along the way (there usually are for everyone)... but a website planning checklist will keep you moving Forward. No more struggling to recall "What have I done?" "What information do I need now / What do I need to do next?"  A true planning checklist helps you to know just that so you can continue your forward momentum and get things (in this case, your website) up and running.

Good checklists can help you move through each mini-step and obstacle without giving you extra work to do or more points to consider than necessary (right now).  For websites, there are a few different types of checklists out there, but the first and foremost thing to consider when looking for a website planning checklist to help you with your website game plan is 'Is this to the point?'

The following website planning checklist is made with that first and foremost point in mind.  It is for both new and established business owners, both entrepreneurs who are doing business on and or offline and it can also even be used for putting up not-for-profit and organization or cause websites.

While a strategically shorter checklist (like this one) might not answer every single question you'll ever have, you can always quickly and slightly modify a step to customize it to meet your needs.  More often than not its a much more helpful way to get started with your website than, for example using a very information-heavy planner, workbook or checklist. It saves more time in the long run to start using a to-the-point plan to follow rather than an overwhelming one.  With less to sort through, a shorter checklist will usually have more of what you need, less of what you don't.  In fact, this is a good principal to adopt and look out for in any future resource that you seek out to help you build your business.

When planning your website, if you don't know what to focus on, you can lose hours of precious time doing extra research, posting in groups, asking friends, playing around with graphics or wondering about what types of copy you absolutely need to add.

This free website planning checklist helps you save time because it will keep you focused and working towards completion even if you're jumping around from step to step.

It's the one I use with my students, clients an small to get them started.  The checklist both takes into account the principals of 'conversion' (driving results and sales) and is tailored to to optimize your (or you and your designer's) own time and productivity.d companies big and

​I want to save time creating my website. Show me how!

(This link above takes you to the website planning checklist.)