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The Benefits of Creating a Purpose-driven Website

Published: October 13, 2015

Why do you want a Website? What purpose does your site serve?

A website will certainly serve your business in a many ways, however, it’s critical that you or your designer is able to spell out the purpose of your site and measure its specific purpose or purposes.

More than Design

Many people think that the layout and look of the website is the hardest part, and to be successful, you have to offer your visitors all the bells and whistles. However, without purpose, you website is like a beautiful empty shell that will lose its appeal in no time at all.

What Are You Trying to Do?

Defining the purpose of your site and guaranteeing that your pages content support that purpose is essential. In order to accomplish the purpose of your site, ask yourself one question: Why are you building the site?

What Is Your Website's Mission?

What Is Your Website’s Mission?

Ask Questions:

Are you building a site to gain new followers? Are you looking to sell your products? The answer to these questions will direct your way. For most of us, the goal of the website is simple, you want to make money.

Who are you trying to reach?

Thinking About Your Audience

Make a list of all the different kinds of people who may want to buy your products or enlist your services. Figure out how you can direct your content to accommodate them; offer them content that meets their specific needs. For example:

  • Stay-at-home moms
  • Business women or men
  • College students
  • Newly married couples
  • People in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s

Once you’ve listed your audience, you can then determine their level of technical capability; you can then develop your site in a way that will accommodate your target audience the best.

Purpose Examples:

Examples of serving your purposes:

  • Be your own boss
  • Money
  • Communication
  • Interaction and recognition
  • Community services
  • Determine your self-worth
  • Share your experiences
  • Publicize your brand and products or services

Audience Purpose

  • Locate information
  • Get updates
  • Buy a product
  • Use a service
  • Subscribe
  • Compare services or products
  • Socialize
  • Browse or Window-shop
  • Get help

Once you have researched your audience and explored your site’s purpose, you’ll then find that you have a solid foundation and new direction. No matter the extent of your site or the complexity of your products or services, when you know exactly what your site is for, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your traffic will increase.

This new-found realization ensures that you can now:

  • Develop content
  • Arrange the structure and content placement of your site
  • Defines theme
  • Determine voice
  • Which tools to use to create the site

Now that you know exactly what your website’s purpose is – and who your audience is – you can ensure that the next steps have purpose. Your costs can now be estimated with certainty, and your content needs are now established. Even if you already have a website, when you know just why you have the website and who you’re speaking to, you can make the necessary changes to offer a better return on your efforts.

As you can see from the examples given and information provided above, a clear purpose will play a huge role in the success of your site. Whatever your business or service may be, once you determine the direction and necessity of your pages, and ultimately, your entire site, you can then have a better idea of how to present content, texts, and information to your visitors. When you know exactly what’s driving your ideas or business, you can strategize and plan your steps accordingly. Taking the time to assess your goals, as well as the goals of your visitors, you will ensure that you’re fully-equipped to move forward with your website design or redesign. You’ll also know exactly what to do in order to drive traffic to the pages and then what to offer them when they arrive.

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