Building a website is a rewarding and creative journey where you get to see your brand come to life online. But before you dive into design, content, or platforms, it’s essential to start with the basics. What goals do you have for your website and why? After all, your website isn’t just a digital placeholder; it’s a tool that should actively support your business, audience, and growth.
At Magna Technology, we believe a successful WordPress site starts with strategy, not just aesthetics. One of the first questions we ask our clients is what goals they have for their website. Do they want to generate more leads? Sell more products? Grow brand awareness? To help you get started, here’s what you need to know (and decide) before building your site.
Define Your Website’s Purpose
Every great website answers a question: What is this site here to do?
Your purpose could be:
- Selling products or services
- Generating leads or appointments
- Educating your audience or showcasing your expertise
- Providing a portfolio or case studies
- Creating a community or membership hub
Being clear about your “why” helps shape everything from layout and content to functionality and features. An ecommerce site selling clothes will look and function very differently from a site that books appointments for relationship consulting.
Identify Your Target Audience
Who are you building this site for?
Think about your audience’s demographics, such as their age, profession, and pain points. Put yourself in their shoes and consider what they’re looking for when they visit your website, how tech-savvy they are (and how that should affect navigation and design), and whether they’re using mobile or desktop most of the time. Knowing your audience ensures that your website speaks their language, both visually and functionally.
Set Measurable Goals
General goals like “more traffic” or “a better site” are a great starting point, but to truly track progress, get specific. For example, a client who wants to get more contact form submissions can make their goal more specific by setting a percentage (20%) and time frame (6 months). This way, in six months, they can determine if they’re meeting their goal.
Other examples of measurable website goals include:
- Reduce bounce rates by 15%
- Grow email subscribers to 1,000
- Improve e-commerce checkout conversion rate
- Boost SEO rankings for five target keywords
Setting clear metrics gives you something to aim for and lets you see what’s working over time.
Consider Features You’ll Need
Once your goals are clear, it’s time to think about what your website needs to support them. If you’re working on lead generation, you’ll need optimized forms, pop-ups, and calls to action. If you’re selling products on an e-commerce site, you’ll need product pages, payment integration, and inventory tools. Booking and scheduling benefits from calendar integration or booking systems, while SEO relies on fast load speeds, optimized structure, and metadata tools. By thinking through functionality early, you can avoid costly revisions later.
Don’t Forget Long-Term Plans
Your website should support your future, not just your launch. Ask yourself:
- Will I need to scale my site as I grow?
- Will I add more services, team members, or products?
- Do I want to offer gated content, memberships, or courses later?
WordPress is highly scalable, and starting with a flexible foundation ensures you won’t have to rebuild from scratch down the road. You can also extend functionality by adding plugins for e-commerce, memberships, multilingual content, and more.
Magna Technology Can Help You Build with Purpose
Whether you’re launching your first site or upgrading your current one, Magna Technology will help you clarify your goals and create a site that’s beautiful, functional, and strategic. If you’re ready to start your next website project with confidence, give us a call at 617-249-0539 and let’s map out your goals together.