Define Your Business Goals
Before you start building a website, it’s important to know exactly what you want it to do for your business. Your goals are like a map, they help you make decisions and measure your success. Think about what matters most: Do you want to sell products, get more people to know about your business, or maybe teach something online? Clear goals help you stay focused and avoid wasting time or money on things you don’t need.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre wants their website to do three main things: sell gardening supplies, let people book masterclasses, and build a community of gardening fans. By writing these goals down, they can make sure every part of their website helps with at least one of these things.
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Identify Your Target Audience
Knowing who your website is for is just as important as knowing what you want to achieve. Your target audience is the group of people most likely to use your site or buy your products. Think about their age, interests, where they live, and what problems they need solved. When you understand your audience, you can create a website that speaks directly to them and meets their needs.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre’s audience includes beginner gardeners, people who garden as a hobby, and professionals who want to learn more about sustainable gardening. By understanding these groups, Gumnut Growth Centre can use simple language for beginners, offer advanced tips for pros, and make sure everyone feels welcome.
Decide on Core Features and Functionality
Every website needs certain features to work well. Features are the tools and sections that help visitors do what they came for, like shopping, booking, or reading articles. It’s important to list out the features you need before you start building, so you don’t forget anything important or add things you don’t need.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre’s website needs an online shop for gardening supplies, a booking system for masterclasses, a blog for gardening tips, a place for customer reviews, and a newsletter signup. By listing these features, they can make sure their website does everything their customers expect.
Plan Your Content
Content is everything people read, see, or watch on your website. Good content helps visitors understand your business, trust you, and take action. Think about what information your customers need, what questions they might have, and what will make them want to come back. Planning your content ahead of time saves you stress later.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre plans to have product descriptions and photos, bios for their masterclass teachers, how-to articles and videos, and a helpful FAQ section. This way, visitors can learn about products, get to know the teachers, and find answers to their questions all in one place.
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Choose a Suitable Platform
A website platform is the tool or service you use to build your site. Some platforms are easy to use and don’t need any coding, while others are more flexible but require technical skills. The right platform depends on your budget, your skills, and what features you need. Choosing the right one from the start makes everything easier.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre chooses a website builder like Shopify or Wix because it’s easy to use, has built-in tools for selling products and booking classes, and doesn’t require any coding. This lets them focus on their business instead of worrying about technology.
Design for User Experience (UX)
User experience (UX) is about making your website easy and enjoyable to use. If visitors can’t find what they need or get frustrated, they’ll leave. Good UX means clear menus, simple layouts, and making sure important things are easy to find. Always think about what your visitors want to do and how you can make it simple for them.
When planning your website’s user experience, it’s helpful to sketch out a navigation diagram, a simple map showing how the main pages connect, like “Home”, “Shop”, “Masterclasses”, and “Contact”. This helps you see the big picture and make sure visitors can easily find what they need. You can also create basic prototypes, which are rough versions of your website that show where buttons, menus, and content will go.
Prototyping lets you test ideas and get feedback before you build the real thing. You don’t need expensive software, free or low-cost tools like pen and paper, Google Drawings, Canva, or online platforms like Figma and Balsamiq make it easy to create diagrams and prototypes. These methods help you spot problems early and build a website that’s simple and enjoyable for everyone to use.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre makes sure their website has clear menus for “Shop”, “Masterclasses”, and “Blog”. The checkout process is quick and easy, and there’s always a way to contact them for help. This makes visitors feel comfortable and encourages them to come back.
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Mobile Responsiveness
Many people use their phones or tablets to browse the web. A mobile responsive website automatically adjusts to look good and work well on any device. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you could lose customers who find it hard to use.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre tests their website on different devices to make sure everything looks right and works smoothly, whether someone is using a computer, a phone, or a tablet. This way, no matter how people visit, they have a good experience.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: Making Your Website Welcoming for Everyone
When planning your website, it’s important to make sure everyone can use it, including people with disabilities. Accessible websites aren’t just the right thing to do; they also reach more customers and may be required by law.
What to Consider:
- Use clear, easy-to-read text and good colour contrast.
- Add descriptive “alt text” to all images so screen readers can describe them.
- Make sure your site can be navigated with a keyboard (not just a mouse).
- Use headings and labels to help users find information quickly.
- Test your site with free accessibility tools (like WAVE or Axe).
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre ensures all their gardening tips and product images have alt text, uses large, readable fonts, and checks that their booking form works with just a keyboard.
By planning for accessibility from the start, you’ll create a website that’s welcoming to everyone, and avoid costly fixes later.
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Branding and Visual Identity
Branding is how your business looks and feels to customers. It includes your logo, colours, images, and the way you write. A strong, consistent brand helps people remember you and trust your business. Decide on your style and stick to it across your whole website.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre uses earthy colours, plant images, and a friendly, helpful tone in all their writing. Their logo and style are the same on every page, so visitors always know they’re in the right place.
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SEO and Discoverability
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is about making your website easy to find on Google and other search engines. This means using the right keywords, writing clear page titles, and making sure your site loads quickly. Good SEO helps more people discover your business online.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre uses keywords like “organic gardening supplies” and “online gardening classes” in their product descriptions and blog posts. They also make sure their images have helpful names and their pages load fast, so Google can find and show their site to more people.
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Legal and Compliance
Every website needs to follow certain rules to protect both you and your customers. This includes having a privacy policy, terms and conditions, and making sure you follow laws about selling online. If you collect customer information, you need to keep it safe and tell people how you use it.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre adds a privacy policy and terms and conditions to their website. They make sure they follow Australian Consumer Law and, if they have customers overseas, they check if they need to follow other rules like GDPR.
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Payment and Security
If you’re selling online, you need a safe way for customers to pay. Use trusted payment gateways and make sure your website is secure. Show customers that their information is protected, so they feel safe buying from you.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre uses secure payment options like PayPal and Stripe. They display trust badges and have an SSL certificate (the little padlock in the browser), so customers know their details are safe.
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Analytics and Tracking
Analytics tools help you see how people use your website. You can track how many visitors you get, what pages are popular, and where people come from. This information helps you make better decisions and improve your site over time.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre sets up Google Analytics to track how many people visit their site, which products are most popular, and how many people sign up for classes. They use this information to make their website even better.
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Ongoing Maintenance and Support
Websites need regular care to keep working well. This means updating software, fixing problems, and adding new content. You also need a way to help customers if they have questions or issues.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre plans to check their website every week for updates, back up their data, and add new blog posts. They set up a contact form and a support email so customers can easily get help.
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Marketing Integration
Your website should work with your other marketing efforts, like social media and email newsletters. This helps you reach more people and keep your customers engaged. Think about how your website can help you grow your business, not just sell products.
Example:
Gumnut Growth Centre adds links to their social media pages, a newsletter signup form, and a loyalty program for repeat customers. They also make it easy for visitors to share blog posts on Facebook or Instagram, helping spread the word about their business.
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