Writing a website plan

Now that we understand the different components of a website, we can start to lay out the project plan or roadmap for this project. Your website plan keeps you focused, ensures that your messages are right, and sets the overall direction of your project. Your website plan is one of the most important parts of your Website Toolkit, so take your time on it, get it right, and keep it close to hand so that you can refer back to it easily.

The website plan is laid out for you in the following sections, along with some sample answers and helpful questions to ask yourself so that you can ensure that you are on the right track when writing yours. Some of this information may already be available in your business, such as within your branding guidelines or annual reports. Don't just leave it there; put it into your website plan. For smaller businesses or those without such documents, there's no time like the present to sharpen up the way you communicate about your business, so let's get started. Many of the items included here can be used for other communication projects, too.