Strategic Web Design

Strategic web design helps you accomplish your organisational objectives and ensures that you are communicating a clear, intelligent and focused brand message online.

A strategic design should also be in-line with your organisational goals and objectives.

Implementing Strategic Design

1. Establish your goals – what is the purpose of the website and what do you need to achieve? What is the core function required of this website?
2. Identify your audience – age, gender, profession, technical competency, profile, etc.
3. Determine your brand image – look, feel, colours, fonts – what type of emotions do you wish to elicit? What impression do you want to elicit from visitors?
4. Implement a goal-driven design. Highlight copy and functionality that needs to stand out to fulfil your goals and objectives. Shape and focus all the elements towards achieving the goals. The same strategy should apply to your brand and audience – design to best suit specifically to communicate the brand and to the targeted audience.
5. Measure and monitor results post-implementation. Wigh results up to the originally intended key objectives. Look for emerging patterns and get feedback.
6. Work in progress – the website is never the final product. It will need to be continually adjusted over time. Make improvements where required to always meet objectives.

Keep it focused:

* Think about organisational objectives
* Keep in mind who the target audience is
* Think about product/service
* Think about the brand identity and image
* Don’t just build a beautiful website. Create a website that really works.

Resource: www.smashingmagazine.com