Contact Information:

Company/Organization Name

Contact Name

Your E-mail

Current Website Address (if any)

Goals and Purpose:

Describe your business or organization.

What will be the purpose of your website?

What will be the primary objective of your site? (Provide information, sell a product, etc.)

Who is your target audience? (Age, gender, interests, locality)

Who is your competition?

Company Details:

Company tag line or slogan

Do you have a company logo?

If not, do you need one designed?

If so, do you currently have access to any or all relevant files to your logo? (Your logo in the .png format is most desired but not necessary)

Do you have an existing visual identity? (A customized logo or color scheme throughout your office, stationary, business cards, etc.)

If so, please describe. (Samples would be more than helpful)

Website Image and Style:

List any and all design ideas you might have for your website. You could include descriptive words like elegant, high tech, playful, personal, etc. You may want specific colors. There may be certain images you would like to feature on the site. You may have a font preference. List anything design-related you would like to see on your new website.

List any websites you have come across in which you have liked elements of their design. Also note what you liked about them. (Layout, colors, navigation, graphics, typography, etc.)

Content Planning:

The organization of content within your website is extremely important.  If lots of content (pages, articles, etc.) are added to your site without any planning or organization, the entire site quickly becomes messy and difficult to navigate.  I use a standard system when planning for any website content.  There are three levels:

1. Sections
2. Categories
3. Content Items

You first divide your website into sections.  Next, each section is divided into categories.  Finally, every content item is placed in its appropriate category.  You may also use “static” pages when the content item happens to be important, possibly even linked to the main menu, but has no place within any category.  For instance, this is often the case for an “About Me” page.

Let me give you an example of the section and category system using a health food company’s website:

1. Section 1: Health Articles
1. Category 1: Fitness
2. Category 2: Health Food & Diets
3. Category 3: Healthy Lifestyles
2. Section 2: Deb’s Healthy Recipes
1. Category 1: Raw Food Recipes
2. Category 2: Cooked Food Recipes
3. Section 3: Upcoming Events
1. Category 1: Free Training Seminars
2. Category 2: Lifestyle Classes
3. Category 3: Cooking Classes
4. Section 4: Deb’s Blog
1. No Categories
5. Static Page: About Our Company

Use this system to plan and organize your site below.  This may take some time to do.  If need be, skip this section for now.

1. Section 1:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

1. Section 2:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

1. Section 3:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

1. Section 4:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

1. Section 5:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

1. Section 6:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

1. Section 7:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

1. Section 8:
   

1. Category 1:
   

1. Category 2:
   

1. Category 3:
   

1. Category 4:
   

1. Category 5:
   

List all static pages.

Additional Website Features:

Do you plan to include a blog on your website?

Do you have need for an event planner/calendar on your website?

Do you plan to sell products from your website?

Do you plan to include a photo gallery?

Will you be running advertisements on your website?

If so, will they be Google ads?

Do you want your visitors to be able to register on your website? (Possibly giving them access to restricted areas of the site or to collect e-mail addresses)

List any additional features you wish to have on your website.

Pricing:

What is your budget for this website?