Here are the most important points you need to consider in your planning document:

• What is your mission or the mission of your business or organisation? In other words, what are you or your business about? What is your purpose and your philosophy? What are the goals you want to achieve?
• How will having a web presence support your mission?
• Why do you need a website? What will the website add to your overall goals?
• Who are you targeting with your website?
• What is the profile of the people visiting your website? Are they professionals, business executives the general public or a mixed audience? Also think about what impression you want your audience to have after visiting your website.
• What is your site or business name?
• What will you call your site? Will it be your personal name or do you have a name for your business? Carefully consider this point since your name is what you or your business will be known as to your customers and it will be synonymous with what you do.
• Do you require a logo?
• A logo is a symbol that represents your name and your business. It is also the integral part of your overall branding and creates your visual presence in this world.
• Do you have a domain name?
• Do you already have a domain? If not, you need to choose one for your website. It should be your business name if you have one or your personal name. If the domain you desire is taken, you will have to think of variations or another name. Also consider whether you need a .com or a .co.nz primary domain. Other popular primary domains are .biz, .info, .net, .org.
• Do you have an idea about your desired website design? This includes ideas about the colour scheme, layout and web features. You can also make a list of existing websites you liked while browsing the Internet.
• Will you need web hosting? If you are just setting up a new website, chances are that you will need a web hosting service. We can certainly help you with finding a suitable host for your site. If you already have a preferred web host, we will need to make sure that your account meets our requirements.

As you can see from the above, creating a draft that covers those points will lay a solid foundation for your website and give a strong direction for the development process. Once your goals are clear, it is much easier to find ways to achieve them.

We strongly recommend not only to think about these guidelines but to write them down or create a formal document as it is easier to refine various points when you have a good overview on paper.