Your web site's relevance

When was the last time you looked critically at your web site? I must admit that I spent a substantial amount of time getting mine up, and haven't touched it since. Is it telling the story I want it to tell? Does it make it easy to do business with me?

If it's been more than nine months since you've done a thorough review, then it's time to schedule those meetings. Yes, nine months can seem like yesterday. But, we all know that by the time we fight through all the issues, get time on the right people's calendars and actually document the requirements, another 60 days will have gone by. That means the developers will only have a month to make your site relevant to what's happened in the past year. Hasn't your business changed in the past year? Shouldn't your web site account for that?

And oh, by the way, if it's been more than a year or two, call me right now. You have a lot of catching up to do!

Here are some questions that are worth asking when you start your review...
Does our web site accurately reflect the business we're in?
Will our target market be inspired to take action?
What action do we want our target audience to take?
How much business can we realistically expect to get from the web site?

These are critical questions, because they will drive your design strategy, your budget and your tolerance for risk.