writing a mission statement

I have only one hard and fast rule about developing web sites: I never, ever begin work without a written mission statement and project goals.

It's tempting, especially when working under time pressure or on a small-scale project, to skip this step. You figure: I know what I'm doing, and my team knows what they're doing. I don't need a formal mission statement. But you do. Even the smallest project—one that's measured in days instead of months—is measurably improved when you have the site's purpose in writing. And on more significant projects—a new site or a major redesign—it's perilous to proceed without it.

The mission statement, you'll learn, is a web team's best friend.

The written mission statement

Clarifies what you're creating so everyone shares the same vision
Clarifies your objectives so everyone agrees to the same goals
Prevents the project from slipping off course—a major risk with web projects
Insulates you from the whims of others by accomplishing the above

Of course, these advantages don't come free. Mission statements are notoriously hard to write, because they need to be both pithy and meaningful, capturing the essence of a site's purpose in just a few words. They should explain what you're doing and who you're doing it for.

Every mission statement should include

Who the site is for
What the site does
How the site differs from its competition

Keep in mind, however, that the mission statement is for your staff, not your customers. It needn't (and I'd argue shouldn't) appear on your web site itself.

a model mission statement

Mission statements are notoriously difficult to write. So when crafting one for your site, it helps to have a model.

Try this Mad Lib-like template:

_____________________ ( site name ) is a ______________________ ( noun describing site ) offering ______________________________________ ( type of service ) to _______________________________________________ ( adjective describing audience ) ____________________________________________ ( noun describing audience ) who _____________________________________________ ( "need" or "want" ) to _______________________________________________ ( need filled by site ).

Unlike competing sites, which ______________________________________________ ( description of competition, highlighting faults ), ____________________________________________ ( site name ) will ______________________________________________ ( verb-based purpose, distinguishing site from its competition ).

The resulting mission statement should look something like this:

MySistersGarden.com is an online gardening center offering information, advice, and products to discriminating gardening enthusiasts who want the best possible products for their outdoor garden. Unlike other gardening sites, which provide either information or products, but not both, MySistersGarden.com will offer a comprehensive suite of garden-planning tools to assist in all phases of garden planning, from plant selection to landscape design to product purchase to year-round maintenance.

"If you cry 'Forward!' you must without fail make plain in which direction to go."

— Anton Chekhov

stating your goals

Once you've determined the general direction of your site—or its redesign—it's important to articulate what you expect from it. What, exactly, are you hoping your site will accomplish? What concrete goals should the site help you achieve?

The goals themselves will vary, depending on the type of site. But whoever you are and whatever your site's mission, you'll find it's critical—both for the project's health and your own—to define success ahead of time.

By stating your goals, you

Create attainable measures of success shared by everyone in the organization.
Provide an objective framework for making decisions.
Give company stakeholders a forum to voice their expectations.
Force company stakeholders to sign off on goals, freeing the development team to meet them as they see fit.
Help prevent meddling by accomplishing the above.

By defining (and writing down) your goals from the outset, you accomplish both practical and diplomatic purposes.

On the practical end, goals create quantifiable, and hopefully attainable, goals for the project. Over the course of development, the project team can consistently refer back to them, ensuring that the project's on track and that decisions made along the way support the overarching goals.

On the diplomatic front, these goals create a forum in which all an organization's stakeholders can voice their expectations and demands of the site (or site redesign). By gathering opinions on the site goals, consolidating them into a short list, and then getting approval on these stated goals, the producer sets herself, her team, and her site up for success. They now know what is expected of them, and they have the freedom to effectively do their jobs.

typical goals...

for a new site

Reduce phone calls about hours and location
Reduce bad leads by clarifying what your organization does (and doesn't do)
Increase sales in store, or attendance at events, by using online promotions
Convert existing offline customers or members into online customers or members

for a redesigned site

Increase pageviews after a redesign
Increase return visitors
Increase number of registrations, purchases, or other completed transactions

what kind of goals?

The goals for your site will vary, of course, depending on its focus, but they may include things like increasing revenue, cutting costs, attracting and retaining more users, developing leads for new customers, reducing phone calls, building a mailing list, or raising the company's profile.

Whatever the specifics, your goals should meet two basic criteria.

The web site's goals should be