The Most Important Thing to Consider Before Building a Corporate Website

Most people think the most important thing to consider before building a corporate website is “Why?”. Why do you want to build a corporate website? To gain online presence? Because XYZ competitor has one? To be more “modern”?

While those are all valid reasons to wanting to own a corporate website, they’re very general, quite hazy, and don’t provide enough concrete guidance to ensure the website is an effective success. The result? A website that is…just fine. It functions okay, but doesn’t attract much traffic, and doesn’t lead visitors to take the action you intended.

Instead, the most important thing to consider before building your corporate website is this:

WHO is the corporate website primarily for?

Is your website intended for the general consumer? Who is this general consumer? How old are they? What colours, visuals, and information will excite them? How will they interact with your website? What are their concerns and how can you address them?

Is your website intended for other businesses? Which person representing the business will likely be the one interacting with your website? The owner? Marketing manager? Admin staff? What information is this person seeking? What reassurance can you give that your product or service is what they need to succeed in their job?

Is your website intended for investors? What criteria will they use to evaluate your company or brand? How do they like to receive this information? Do they care more about the personality behind your brand story or the numbers that show business growth?

Once you determine the “who” of your corporate website, everything else naturally falls into place. You will be able to tailor your design, UI/UX, copy, and overall website structure around this intended audience to ensure they have a pleasant experience with your company website, get what they came for, and walk away remembering your brand in a positive light!