{"id":376,"date":"2011-05-23T10:52:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T10:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/?p=376"},"modified":"2023-01-31T10:47:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T16:47:47","slug":"second-question-you-should-be-asking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smallbizsurvival.com\/2011\/05\/second-question-you-should-be-asking.html","title":{"rendered":"The Second Question You Should be Asking about Your Website"},"content":{"rendered":"

How\u2019s your website doing? Did you answer that thorny question<\/a> that Becky and I talked about at the end of last year? (No,\u00a0seriously, that question is really important \u2013 it is the first<\/b> question you should\u00a0always answer before building or changing your website. Go on, re-read it if you\u00a0have to, we\u2019ll wait patiently here.)<\/p>\n

Today I\u2019d like to talk to you about the second question you should be asking yourself\u00a0about your website. But only after you\u2019ve got a good answer on that first question.<\/p>\n

Ok, ok, I\u2019ll get to the point: the second question is:<\/p>\n

What does your customer want your website to do?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Wha...?\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
“Wha…?”\u00a0<\/i>
\nPhoto by CarbonNYC
\n(I let Andy pick his own photos.)\u00a0<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

This might seem like an obvious question, but have you actually asked your\u00a0customers this question?<\/p>\n

It might be an eye-opener of an opportunity to provide your clients with the\u00a0information and resources they are looking for. But it\u2019s hard. It\u2019s hard to ask\u00a0awkward questions like that, especially when you might hear about problems you\u00a0were hoping to avoid.<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a bit awkward because sometimes the answer to the question about what you\u00a0<\/i>want your website to do might be different than what your customers<\/i> want.<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve scoured up a few real examples of people I\u2019ve worked with, either directly or\u00a0indirectly. What would you do if this was your business?<\/p>\n

Boutique soap\/candle shop:<\/b><\/p>\n