Define Before You Design

Building a website can feel like jumping into a pool without knowing how to swim. As a former Red Cross-certified Water Safety Instructor, I taught swimming lessons with a simple philosophy—keep it fun, build confidence, and take it step-by-step. Some believe the best way to learn is to jump right in, but I found that approach often lead to fear and frustration. The same is true for building a website. Diving in without guidance can leave you feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, making you want to abandon the process altogether.

Just like swimming, website building doesn’t have to be scary or complicated. If you take it one step at a time, focusing on the fundamentals, you’ll gain the confidence you need to navigate the digital waters. I’ve seen firsthand how powerful a website can be for a business owner—it can transform a brand, attract customers, and open doors to new opportunities. But I’ve also seen business owners struggle, becoming so frustrated with the process that they abandon their sites before ever realizing their full potential.

Before we get caught up in the excitement of choosing colors, fonts, and beautiful images, we need to start with a strong foundation. The most important first step in building a website—just like learning to swim—is understanding the basics. For a website, that means clearly defining its goals, purpose, vision, and ideal audience. These elements act as your guide, helping shape a website that serves both your business and your ideal client.

So, let’s take a deep breath and ease into the process. By defining these key elements upfront, you’ll create a website that not only looks great but also works for you and your business. Now, let’s dive into the decisions that will make your website a success!

Defining Your Website’s Goal

Your website’s goals outline what you want to achieve with your online presence. Without clear objectives, your site may lack direction and fail to provide to value to visitors. You can have multiple goals  for example increase subscribers, sales, appointments, etc.

Questions to ask to define your website goals:

• What do you want your website to accomplish? Do you want to see products, showcase your portfolio, attract clients, attract licensing deals, establish yourself as an educator, etc.
• Are your goals measurable? Make your goal(s) measurable: Instead of saying, “I want increase my newsletter list,” specify, “I want increase newsletter subscribers by 10% by the end of three months.”
• Do you have both short-term and long-term goals? Consider having short-term and long-term goals: A short-term goals could be launching your website, while a long-term could be growing your email list of subscribers.

Determine Your Website’s Purpose

The purpose of your website answers the question, “Why does my website exist?” If we don’t know our “why,” our websites can end up feeling like an online junk drawer…full of everything but without a clear direction. While goals focus on what you want to achieve, purpose defines the reason behind those goals.

Questions to Ask to Define Your Website’s Purpose:

• What value will my website provide to visitors?
• What action do I want visitors to take when they land on my site?
• How does my website support my business and brand?

Crafting Your Websites Vision

Your website’s vision is about the bigger picture. It reflects the long-term impact you want your site to have and how it aligns with your purpose.

Questions to Ask to Define Your Website’s Vision:

• Where do you see your business in 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years.
• How will your website evolve over that time?
• If you had to explain to someone your vision for your business or your long-term aspirations what would you say?

Identifying Your Audience: Who are you speaking to?

Your website should be designed with a specific audience in mind, take a moment and picture your ideal client. If they’re anything like you, they might be a woman over 40, creative, a little tech-cautious, and passionate about their craft. Getting to know who’s going to visit your website means you can tailor everything—from the layout to the tone—to feel just right for THEM.  You want a website with a user experience that resonates with the right people.

Questions to ask to get clear on your audience:

• Based on your current audience who engages with your brand the most? What are their interests, challenges, and needs?
• What is your perfect ideal audience persona or profile? Develop a detailed profile of your ideal visitor. Include demographics, pain points and motivations.
• Where does your audience “hang out” online? Do they prefer blogs, podcast, videos, social media content?
• What are they searching for when they visit your website? What solutions can you provide and how?

Bring It Together

Once you have clarity on your website’s goals, purpose, vision and audience, your have a strong foundation for designing, content creation, and promoting your website. Getting clear on your purpose, goals, vision and ideal audience will give you focus and guide all your choices from design to content creation. You’re not just creating a website; you’re creating an experience that introduces you and your unique brand to the world!