It is only too common for businesses to commission a website without a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve. Often, there is no real plan at all, only a recognition that 'we must be on the web'. If you end up with a website that doesn't meet your needs, it can cost you a lot of money to put it right. So, what are the questions to think about before you get a web developer to start work?

1. What are the needs of your website users?

First, you obviously need to identify who your website users are likely to be. What sort of people are they? Why will they be visiting your website? What will they be looking for when they're there? This is the single most important step. Your users' needs must be central to your website design. So, before you even think about the design, make sure you know your users' needs.

2. What content will your site have?

Now you know your users' needs, how will you answer those needs with your content? It might help to make a list of the questions your users have and then identify the type of content you need to address those questions. If you have more than one type of user, do this exercise for each type. There may be questions that are specific to a user group. This will be important to incorporate into the site structure. At this stage, you should plan for everything you think your users need. Later on, you may need to split these into phases, but it's important that all needs you identify are planned for upfront.

3. How will you market online?

If you have an existing brand, think about how you tie your online presence into your existing marketing. If you are starting up a new venture, you will need to determine your marketing strategy both online and off-line.

4. How will you promote your website?

It is highly unlikely that people will just stumble across your website, unless you have an effective promotional strategy. You need to think about search engine optimisation, and your web developer can help you understand how to approach SEO. You may want to think about advertising and cross-promotion opportunities. You do need to have a plan. Your website going live is just the beginning.

5. Do you have any specific technical needs?

If you want to be able to easily update your website, you will need a content management system. You may have identified specific functionality that you need to provide to your users. This may involve integrating with an existing service such as a secure payment provider. Or it may involve a business specific piece of functionality that you either need to source or to commission. Your web developer can help you identify the options here. There's an amazing amount of functionality available already.

6. What is your project budget?

It's obviously important to know how much money you have to spend. You may need to split the project into phases to stagger the cost. Your web developer will be able to help you to do this if necessary.

7. What sort of design do you want?

Now, finally, we come to design. You do want an attractive website. Look around to see what sorts of websites exist that cater for your users. What do you think works? What do you think does not work?