Purpose of your web site

How should I judge my own web site?

Question 1

What is the actual purpose of your website?

This question needs a brutally honest answer. It is easy to be glib about these things and fall for marketing spiel about vertical market appeal and broadening the customer base. None of this is relevant. What direct affect do you see for your business or organisation by paying for a web site?

Most businesses can honestly say that the purpose of their web site is to attract customers, to sell products or to generate leads.

There are sites that are for viral marketing purposes, brand building and even some dedicated to raising public awareness about an issue. Yet these are far and few between. Most sites are for selling something to new customers.

It is easy to start appending processes to your web sites purpose, such as keeping existing customers, providing tools or information for customers or even helping customers with after sales support. Yet these are superflueous, mere 'add ons'. Usually identified by someone trying to justify the cost of an otherwise failing web site.

So your website should have a single purpose, clearly identified in a single sentence, that a three year old would understand.

For you to do now.
Write down now the purpose of your own website. Don't just say it out loud and hope for the best. Write it down.

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