The early stages of a web project are very important. Whether we are dealing with the creation of a new company website, the restyling of an existing website, the development of a new mobile application, or simply the modification of something already existing, it is in the first moments that are defined together with the customer technical-functional requirements of the new project, identified the referents, formalized the functionalities, the management methods, defined the platforms and integrations.
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It is clear how a correct acquisition of all this information is a crucial step for the correct success of a complex project. The creation of a company website often involves a series of very different company figures across the board. The company’s top management is involved in the definition of the strategy, the marketing offices in the definition of the tactical aspects relating to communication, the technical offices (CED / IT) for the requirements of the technical infrastructure or the integration with other platforms, the commercial areas for information on products and services and many other figures.
In order to facilitate the acquisition of all the strategic information necessary for an optimal development of the design part, we have prepared a questionnaire, a sort of preliminary interview to the project, which we regularly use for all new projects that we are going to deal with as web and digital agency.
For the success of a web project, the correct acquisition of preliminary information is essential.
This questionnaire is administered to new customers (and every time you intend to make a change on the communication methods) to facilitate the description of the company and the objectives that are expected from the communication point of view of the material that will be produced.
The exhaustiveness of the answers and providing as many ideas as possible (even outside of the questions we have entered) is fundamental at this moment, because it allows us, as a web agency specialized in company websites, to be in tune with the Customer and its Goals. In fact, it becomes a useful track to follow, in the phase of the creative process, which is integrated with the needs that emerged from the meetings and from what was viewed directly in the company.
The questionnaire is divided into two parts:
1. The first part concerns a general description of the company, its values, its mission and the way it has communicated so far and how it intends to communicate in the future.
2. The second part is more technical and concerns, in particular, the aspects that concern the creation of the website. Finally, if present, examples of past communication (own or of competitors) from which to take a cue or distance themselves substantially are very useful.
Below we list the main points covered in the questionnaire, however we invite you to download the complete pre-project questionnaire for a detailed analysis of the document.
• Corporate communication
General information on the company’s core business, products and services, strengths and strategic aspects to convey in communication
• Analysis of the current situation
Acquisition of information on the current situation, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses
• Analysis of the requirements for the new website
Acquisition of all the relevant information for the design of the new website, from the definition of users to technical and functional requirements
• Competition analysis
Collection of data on the reference competition, regarding strengths and weaknesses and reference material (websites, brochures, communication examples)
• Use cases / users and functionality.
Discussion of use cases regarding the possibility of interaction of the different users with the new web tools
• Integration of multimedia material
Collection of information on multimedia materials (audio, video, photos, documents, etc.) to be integrated on new websites
• Integration of external databases / corporate ERPs
If you want to integrate external databases (for example with company ERP) analysis of information requirements, data structure, technological aspects
• Security and privacy requirements
Compliance with the laws on privacy and the management of cookies, acquisition of company contacts and procedures related to privacy and security
• Production and content management
Who will manage the content and any translations, both regarding the first body of content and subsequent updates
• SEO strategies and online visibility on search engines
Analysis of the requirements / objectives in terms of online visibility and availability on search engines. Possibility of access to services dedicated to SEO / online positioning and online campaigns with PPC / AdWords
• Social channels
Analysis of the integration of social channels in corporate communication and possible integration on new digital tools and websites
• Hosting and technical infrastructure
Acquisition of all necessary information regarding the technical infrastructure that will have to support the online publication of new digital tools and websites
From the above, you see that the information that makes up a structured web project, whether it is the creation of a corporate website or the restyling of an existing corporate website, is many and varied.
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