Ask yourself the right question to tackle the biggest priority first.

To begin with, you chose a phased website update because you already know you need to identify one goal to hit. But, how do you pick just one goal? Finding that first priority is often the hardest. Luckily, there is a way to bring that one goal to the forefront.

No website yet? Ask yourself this one question:

How will a website lead to customers?

Instead of asking yourself why you feel you need a website, which often results in a generic and broad reason (“so people can find me!” or similar), frame the question in a way that allows you to answer with a specific goal in mind. What will your website do for visitors that helps them understand how much they need you?

Quick Tip:

The key to keeping yourself focused while answering this question is to look at the context of how your business operates currently. What’s missing from the process? What would make it easier? What can a website offer that would tighten things up?

Have a website? Ask yourself this one question:

What is not working?

To answer this question, you will need to dive in to your user statistics. You may be familiar with looking for growth by watching your visits and session go up, but this is not the time for an ego boost. This is the time to take a hard look at your negative statistics.

  • What does the bounce rate look like? Is it significantly higher on mobile vs. tablet vs. desktop? Is it higher on the device category that you have the most visitors on?
  • Look at your content. Is there a page or post that performs significantly worse than the others? Does it also happen to be a top landing page?

Quick Tip:

If you aren’t sure how to find these answers, engage with someone who does. It’s worth knowing where your website is struggling so that you can make a smart choice on how to prioritize and start your phased website update.

Once you have your answer, keep it in sight through the phased website update.

And I mean that literally. Once you’ve identified either what your business needs or where your website is struggling, flip that answer on its head and write it down in the form of an achievable goal. Keep it visible throughout the entire process of stage one to keep you and your website team on target.

Identifying the direction you should take your website is easier when breaking it out into stages. By reframing the questions asked when you look at your website, you can guide your responses toward a measurable outcome that allow you to really break down the responsibility of owning and operating a website into manageable steps.