What if you decided to map out a detailed five-year plan for your career? Maybe you'd start with the overall goal. Then, perhaps break it down to what you need to do by next year, next week, tomorrow, today - the next fifteen minutes? (If you're that organised.)
You probably wouldn't start with what you're doing in the next half-hour and hope it ended up somewhere good in the long term.
Think of web design in the same way. It helps to plan your objectives by thinking big, and then zooming in on the detail. (And of course it helps to work with the right website development company.)
The Macro Level
Start big and general. What do you want your site to say about you? Who do you want to compete against (or indeed beat)? Do you want to be the best there is in a hyper-specific niche, or offer a wider service?
Consider your overall plans for the site - this will influence functionality.
The Function Level
So, you know roughly what you're aiming for. But what does the site need to do to achieve those goals?
It's a simple question - but often muddied along the way by input from design/marketing/management or any number of departments. All with good intentions, of course, but potentially altering the final product for the worse.
For example - maybe your aim is to sell a high volume of budget consumer goods online. You're going to need robust, fast-loading pages. Secure payment processing. Easy to navigate, product-focused pages.
You probably won't need nice flash animations, splash pages or intensive graphic design.
Alternatively, if you're a media site you might need lots of content management functionality, blogs, embedded video, secure subscription areas and so on.
Function should dictate the form. Let your overall goal inform how the website works and what features you need to focus most resources on.
The Page Level
Every single page on a website should have a purpose. Whether it's a blog post designed to educate, or a product page designed to encourage a user to click and buy.
Go through your site with a fine-tooth comb and ask yourself: "is this page fulfilling its purpose?"
Be strict. Think of a page from your user's point of view. If it's a page designed to sell a product, is the information clear? Is it obvious as soon as a user arrives what the page is for?
Axe anything that's unclear or confused.
The Micro Level
So, you know what your overall goals for the site are and what functionality you need to get there. You know what each page is targeted on. Now it's time to focus on adding the fine detail elements that help you achieve that.
For example, say you're selling software for download. Is the "buy" button big enough? Is your most compelling offer high up the page? Is the font clear and legible?
Think about the objective of each individual element and make sure it's pulling its weight. Right down to the colour of the navigation buttons.
Start big, then scale down. That's a good approach when sorting out your website objectives. If you need any more guidance, speak to your web design company to see if they can help map out your aims.