• What do you want the site to do?
  
  
• What should be in the site to convey the message?
  
  
• What do you want to provide the users (audience) through the site?
  
  
• What will keep the user's interest?
  
  
• What will encourage them to return and stay awhile?
  
  

Answering these questions can take some brainstorming. Developing a Purpose or Mission statement is an excellent place to start. It defines the focus for development of your site, one that will eventually be the impetus to attract people – the audience.

If your site is properly designed, you will draw visitors from across the country and even around the world. The visitors will include people who are well accustomed to use of computers and the Internet, as well as those with very limited experience. You site probably needs be designed to meet this span of experience. Perhaps as important, the site design must thoroughly consider why people will be visiting your site and prioritize the content based on these reasons.

Defining the needs of your audience may require a little brainstorming to define the priorities. When thinking about the relative importance of your site's content, the issue of scale often arises: How big should each element be? Many sites make every element the same size, but this doesn't help the user figure out what's most important. Ideally, you'll need to figure out what's important, make those things the emphasis and let other things have a less prominent place in the site. Once you determine the priorities, it's much easier to figure out where the pieces will go.