Website Planning 101: Questions You Must Ask Before You Start

At the start of any web project, it’s worth slowing down and asking the right questions.
The answers will shape everything that follows—from your sitemap and content to design and development.
Here are some of the most important questions to ask before you begin.

1. What Is the Goal of the Website?

Why do you want a website? What role should it play in your business? What return do you expect from it?

Your website might be designed to:

• Sell (generate leads, sell products online, take bookings, etc.)
• Engage (connect with existing customers and attract new ones)
• Provide information (educate, solve problems, or entertain)
• Add credibility when people search for your business online
• Or achieve a combination of the above

Once the primary goal is clear, every decision—structure, content, design, and functionality—should support that goal.

2. How Is the Current Website Performing?

If you already have a website, ask how well it’s currently meeting that goal.
This will help you decide whether to improve what you have or start fresh with a new build.

If Google Analytics (or another analytics tool) is installed, review the data:

• Visitor numbers and traffic trends
• Most and least popular pages
• Drop-off points and engagement levels

If your goal is lead generation—through contact forms or phone calls—try to gather as much conversion data as possible.
These metrics provide a baseline to measure future improvements.

3. Where Do Visitors Come From?

(Tip: not the same place as babies)

There are many ways visitors can arrive at your website, and each comes with different expectations.
Understanding this helps you plan both content and structure.

Will people find you through search engines? If so, are they searching for your business name—or for what you do?

If ranking in search engines is important, keyword research is a valuable exercise.
Identify the phrases people actually search for, then create sitemap pages that directly target those terms.

4. What Do Visitors Want to Do on Your Website?

Wait—let’s flip that question around.

What do your visitors want to do on your website?

Talk to people in your target market. Ask what they would expect, need, or want from a website like yours.
Then reflect those needs in your sitemap and page structure.

When your website is built around user intent, conversions tend to follow naturally.

5. What Are Your Competitors Doing?

Review websites from competitors in your industry, as well as strong examples from other industries.
Look at what works well—and what doesn’t.

You don’t need to copy them, but learning from both good and bad examples can save time and prevent mistakes.

6. To Blog or Not to Blog?

For most businesses, blogging is a marketing channel.
If you or someone on your team enjoys writing, create a content plan and publish consistently.
Social media can then help promote new posts as they go live.

If you’re unsure whether you can commit to regular content, a blog may not be the right choice.
Before committing, test whether you can realistically publish something every few weeks.

In most cases, blogs exist to engage visitors and support search engine visibility—not simply to fill space.

7. Social Media: Everyone Else Is Doing It—Should You?

The answer is: maybe.

Does social media support your overall digital strategy (the plan tied to your website’s main goal)?
If so, test it and measure the results.

If it delivers a clear return—whether financial or exposure—keep going.
If not, it may not be worth the ongoing time investment.

Every web company or freelancer has their own set of discovery questions.
Hopefully this list helps you refine, or build, your own process before starting your next website project.