The WHY? HOW? & WHAT? of a New Website.
Before you launch or overhaul a website, know WHY you're in business, HOW you're different than others who provide similar products / services / experiences, and WHAT objectives your website will support.
  WHY?
    Q: Who does your business care about and why?
    Q: What human endeavor or aspect of modern life matters to you / your business so much that it's worth supporting in favor of other alternatives?
  HOW?
    Q: Among the people / businesses who provide products / services / experiences similar to yours, what values / principles do you prioritize more than they do? and how do these values / principles influence your product / service / customer experience in a meaningful way?
  WHAT?
    Q: What is the primary purpose of your website and what kinds of functions will it need to perform?
      website will collect money onsite from visitors
        website sells many products & requires catalog functionality
          website shopping cart will need to calculate shipping for physical products
          website e-commerce system will need to support digital products / downloads
          website will need to support recurring / subscriptions
        website sells 1-10 products but does not need catalog functionality
          website shopping cart will need to calculate shipping for physical products
          website e-commerce system will need to support digital products / downloads
          website will need to support recurring / subscriptions
        website collects money for services
          website e-commerce system will need to support digital products / downloads
          website will need to support recurring / subscriptions
      website will display ads / sponsored links
        website needs built-in ad management & price tracking functionality
        website will use 3rd-party ad management tool / service (example Google Adsense)
      website will collect contact information for later follow up
        website will collect email addresses for an auto-responder series or newsletter
        website will collect phone numbers for individual callback by a human being / company representative
      website will act primarily as a personal bio / business brochure that encourages visitor / prospect initiated contact or request for more information
      website will feature a portfolio showcasing past work / completed projects / successful events
      website will feature temporally relevant, frequently updated, newsworthy articles / blog posts
      website will feature educational, inspirational, or entertaining content
        website will feature text based articles / resources
        website will feature video content
        website will feature audio content
        website will feature image based content
        website will feature mixed-media content
      website will feature content written specifically to rank for niche-relevant search phrases / keywords
      Instructions: delete any child nodes that don't apply to your proposed website, and then drag the remaining child nodes into order of descending priority.
  INSTRUCTIONS: For each node labeled with a notebook icon, provide an answer to the question posed--in the form of a paragraph--in the space provided for notes (in iThoughts HD notes are accessed via the black pull-down tab at the top of the screen).
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