Questions to update a website
Sep. 20th, 2025 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaI got this great set of questions from rosefox in preparation for discussing updating my website.
Mostly I want to look at the site you already have and learn what you're unhappy with and what you'd like it to do. My main questions are:
- Who's the target audience? How will they find and access the site? What do you want their first impression to be? What's your goal for how they spend their time there?
- Do you want to keep the logo you have now? Are there any specific colors or existing images you want to use for brand consistency?
- Do you want to port over the existing content? Will you be creating additional content from scratch? (I assume you'll want to write any text yourself, and my role is solely design.)
- Do you need to do e-commerce through the site, or is it mostly a pointer to another site where the books can be purchased? Are there any existing systems that the new site needs to work well with?
- Do you want any kind of frequently updated or interactive elements, like blog posts or quizzes, or only static pages?
- What's your plan for getting the link in front of people: social media, advertising, search rankings, handing out business cards?
My answers: (I know more than I realized!)
It's a practice-oriented site with a couple of book pages. I need it to be a book-oriented site, and the book pages need to be laid out better.
I want the site to generally be lightweight and fast. I don’t want a complicated page builder where I have to rebuild all the pages and then I’m locked into it when the shiny new hotness inevitably becomes last year’s dreck. Definitely no moving carousels of images or anything flashing or moving unnecessarily.
- Who's the target audience?
Bodyworkers and psychotherapists who work with trauma
Sensitive people who are healing from trauma and appreciate an authentic, no-BS, compassionate and knowledgeable approach.
- How will they find and access the site?
Good question. In the past I wrote a new article per month and there was enough gathered info with natural keywords that the SEO was good. Nowadays with AI slop everywhere I don't know.
- What do you want their first impression to be?
For laypeople: Sigh of relief, this person gets me. I can find answers and useful tools here.
For practitioners: My clients can find help here. I want to recommend this book and/or buy it for my office
- What's your goal for how they spend their time there?
For laypeople: go down a rabbithole reading articles. Decide to buy a book.
For practitioners: same?
- Do you want to keep the logo you have now?
Yes, I like it and it's printed on the book covers.
I'm willing to consider suggestions & feedback though.
- Are there any specific colors or existing images you want to use for brand consistency?
Yes, I like the purple & green
Again, willing to consider changes.
- Do you want to port over the existing content?
Yes, any that applies for the pages, and definitely all the articles. I like the articles by topic and articles by date pages.
- Will you be creating additional content from scratch? (I assume you'll want to write any text yourself, and my role is solely design.)
Questions & prompts are super helpful, but yes, I expect to be writing my content. I will add things as needed, especially if I know what shape it should have, and I also think a lot of the content will port over.
- Do you need to do e-commerce through the site, or is it mostly a pointer to another site where the books can be purchased?
I have an existing plugin where the shipping calculation is messed up and I haven't been able to debug it. I have both paid & free versions. I installed WooCommerce once but it was way Too Much and I uninstalled it. I'm willing to consider a different plugin, etc. I don't want direct sales to be the main way the book gets sold, but I do have 30-ish copies of the first two books and a handful of the third one to move out into the world.
- Are there any existing systems that the new site needs to work well with?
I don't think so.
- Do you want any kind of frequently updated or interactive elements, like blog posts or quizzes, or only static pages?
I've never wanted comments on blog posts, since I don't have the time and energy to moderate trauma-related conversations. It's been suggested that I post small updates weekly, but I'm not sure I have the time & energy for that either. I definitely don't have time & energy to write the monthly articles now that I'm working full time.
- What's your plan for getting the link in front of people: social media, advertising, search rankings, handing out business cards?
What a good question. Dreamwidth and Mastodon (wandering.shop and ruby.social) are tiny corners of the social media ecosystem.
I used to hand out business cards and I could get a new one and do it again.
I have the link in my email signature.
Open to considering advertising. I tried it a bit when I first got to Portland, and the response was disappointingly small, although I did get one of my longest-running clients that way and he referred two other people.
I have a handful of domain names and there's some question about which one to use. traumahealed.com is the one I've put out there the most over the years. Others are sundownarts.com (original domain, main email address), sundownhealingarts.com (publisher name), wellspringofcompassion.com (book 1 title), presenceaftertrauma.com (book 2 title) (book3 title was already taken, but I could buy embodyinghopebook.com if that would be useful), curioushealing.com (book blog)
rosefox in preparation for discussing updating my website.Mostly I want to look at the site you already have and learn what you're unhappy with and what you'd like it to do. My main questions are:
- Who's the target audience? How will they find and access the site? What do you want their first impression to be? What's your goal for how they spend their time there?
- Do you want to keep the logo you have now? Are there any specific colors or existing images you want to use for brand consistency?
- Do you want to port over the existing content? Will you be creating additional content from scratch? (I assume you'll want to write any text yourself, and my role is solely design.)
- Do you need to do e-commerce through the site, or is it mostly a pointer to another site where the books can be purchased? Are there any existing systems that the new site needs to work well with?
- Do you want any kind of frequently updated or interactive elements, like blog posts or quizzes, or only static pages?
- What's your plan for getting the link in front of people: social media, advertising, search rankings, handing out business cards?
My answers: (I know more than I realized!)
It's a practice-oriented site with a couple of book pages. I need it to be a book-oriented site, and the book pages need to be laid out better.
I want the site to generally be lightweight and fast. I don’t want a complicated page builder where I have to rebuild all the pages and then I’m locked into it when the shiny new hotness inevitably becomes last year’s dreck. Definitely no moving carousels of images or anything flashing or moving unnecessarily.
- Who's the target audience?
Bodyworkers and psychotherapists who work with trauma
Sensitive people who are healing from trauma and appreciate an authentic, no-BS, compassionate and knowledgeable approach.
- How will they find and access the site?
Good question. In the past I wrote a new article per month and there was enough gathered info with natural keywords that the SEO was good. Nowadays with AI slop everywhere I don't know.
- What do you want their first impression to be?
For laypeople: Sigh of relief, this person gets me. I can find answers and useful tools here.
For practitioners: My clients can find help here. I want to recommend this book and/or buy it for my office
- What's your goal for how they spend their time there?
For laypeople: go down a rabbithole reading articles. Decide to buy a book.
For practitioners: same?
- Do you want to keep the logo you have now?
Yes, I like it and it's printed on the book covers.
I'm willing to consider suggestions & feedback though.
- Are there any specific colors or existing images you want to use for brand consistency?
Yes, I like the purple & green
Again, willing to consider changes.
- Do you want to port over the existing content?
Yes, any that applies for the pages, and definitely all the articles. I like the articles by topic and articles by date pages.
- Will you be creating additional content from scratch? (I assume you'll want to write any text yourself, and my role is solely design.)
Questions & prompts are super helpful, but yes, I expect to be writing my content. I will add things as needed, especially if I know what shape it should have, and I also think a lot of the content will port over.
- Do you need to do e-commerce through the site, or is it mostly a pointer to another site where the books can be purchased?
I have an existing plugin where the shipping calculation is messed up and I haven't been able to debug it. I have both paid & free versions. I installed WooCommerce once but it was way Too Much and I uninstalled it. I'm willing to consider a different plugin, etc. I don't want direct sales to be the main way the book gets sold, but I do have 30-ish copies of the first two books and a handful of the third one to move out into the world.
- Are there any existing systems that the new site needs to work well with?
I don't think so.
- Do you want any kind of frequently updated or interactive elements, like blog posts or quizzes, or only static pages?
I've never wanted comments on blog posts, since I don't have the time and energy to moderate trauma-related conversations. It's been suggested that I post small updates weekly, but I'm not sure I have the time & energy for that either. I definitely don't have time & energy to write the monthly articles now that I'm working full time.
- What's your plan for getting the link in front of people: social media, advertising, search rankings, handing out business cards?
What a good question. Dreamwidth and Mastodon (wandering.shop and ruby.social) are tiny corners of the social media ecosystem.
I used to hand out business cards and I could get a new one and do it again.
I have the link in my email signature.
Open to considering advertising. I tried it a bit when I first got to Portland, and the response was disappointingly small, although I did get one of my longest-running clients that way and he referred two other people.
I have a handful of domain names and there's some question about which one to use. traumahealed.com is the one I've put out there the most over the years. Others are sundownarts.com (original domain, main email address), sundownhealingarts.com (publisher name), wellspringofcompassion.com (book 1 title), presenceaftertrauma.com (book 2 title) (book3 title was already taken, but I could buy embodyinghopebook.com if that would be useful), curioushealing.com (book blog)
no subject
Date: 2025-09-20 09:21 pm (UTC)Would you consider redirecting the book domain names to (pages in) a central domain, or would you rather keep them separate?
no subject
Date: 2025-09-20 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-09-21 03:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-09-21 04:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-09-21 04:44 am (UTC)Mind if I borrow the questions for consideration when (eventually) my new singing group's webpage gets designed?
no subject
Date: 2025-09-21 04:56 am (UTC)