1. Planning and Research
When planning and conducting research for a health website, the primary focus should be on the target audience. This is a defined group of people who the website is aiming to attract, and it might be advisable to start by conducting a study to identify the audiences' needs, beliefs, and current knowledge pertaining to the topic area. There are various advantages that come with understanding the target audience. For example, this will allow the creator to tailor the content specifically towards the audiences in mind, as well as potentially increasing the likelihood of the website reaching its aims and objectives. This is why having a clear audience in mind before planning the website is essential. Research in this area could also include other competing websites. This could give some insight into the different genres and styles of health websites that already exist, as well as ensuring that the developed website would be unique and add something different to the field. For example, it may be that through initial research it is identified that there is a gap in the market for a certain type of health website. Understanding the demographics of the target audience is crucial too. This will allow for the website to be designed in a way that will suit the potential users. For instance, if the intended audience are young adults, having the option of clear, big buttons and simple navigation will make the site more accessible and easier to use for those users. Also, focusing on increasing the site's accessibility is just as important. It may be necessary to design and layout the website in a way that will suit a range of disabilities, such as those who have visual impairments or restricted mobility. This could mean future features on the website such as detailed image descriptions or easy keyboard navigation could help mobility-impaired users get the best out of the site. Finally, all initial ideas developed from research should be documented. Explain the reasoning behind certain design choices based on target audience and justify why the website is being developed in a certain way. Every research method used and its findings should be recorded, so as to keep the development on track and help justify every step of the process. With a user-driven, tested and documented design in place, a clearer idea of what the website is going to entail will develop and help to tailor sections of planning and research more towards actually setting the site up. Coherency is crucial. Every research finding and subsequent planning idea should link together in a way that shows a clear contamination of thought from one stage to another. This is crucial for helping to evidence a well thought-out design that was consistently evaluated throughout every stage of the planning.
1.1. Identifying the Target Audience
Before proceeding further in building a health website, it is essential to have a clear picture of who is likely to use the site. These people are known as the target audience. Identifying the target audience is the first step in the planning process. The target audience could be different for each health website. It could include teenagers, adults, or the elderly. Their level of experience and interest in using a website about health should be identified as well. For example, a health website designed for the elderly may not need technical terms or high-tech features. However, a website designed for young adults should have updated information with easy access to social media. We can identify this in a number of ways. The first and most simple step is to just ask people who the intended audience is. This could be done by conducting a survey or asking for opinions online. Alternatively, you can look at the demographic of the people who already use the health service and tailor the website to fit their needs. This could be done by collecting data on the age, gender, employment status, geographical location and previous medical history of the patients using the service. This may be done through a register for the health service or by putting out surveys and questionnaires in the waiting room. Lastly, in some cases you will already have a good idea of who will use the site. For example, a website for a local children's health service should be aimed at parents and carers and this means that there is no need to ask the patients themselves in the initial planning phase. However, the design team should still identify the targeted audience and provide evidence of this, regardless of how obvious it may seem.
1.2. Defining the Website's Purpose
Defining the purpose of the health website is a vital step in the planning process. When the purpose has been identified, the target audience can be clearly defined. For example, the website may target a specific demographic group, such as working adults or a particular age group. The site's purpose not only helps to identify the audience, but also guides the decision-making process for design and content. A health website's purpose can be either to provide information, support or a combination of the two. However, it is possible to narrow the purpose down even further. For example, is the information being provided to educate the audience or raise awareness about a particular issue? On the other hand, is the support being provided emotional, social or practical in nature? Having a clear purpose helps to ensure that the website will be effective in meeting the needs of the audience and the client. For any future decisions in the development process, referring back to the identified purpose helps to ensure that the end result does not become unfocused or deviate from what is really needed. This can apply to small decisions just as much as large ones, such as determining the design of a page or the content of a section. For example, if the client requests that a feature be included that does not fit in with the website's defined purpose, there is a clear reason not to include it that can be communicated to the client.
1.3. Conducting Market Analysis
The main goal of conducting a market analysis is to determine the website's opportunity in the given market, that is, to identify the specific market segments that the website could target. There are also two additional goals of market analysis: to find what the audience needs and to find the best possible way to meet the audience's needs. First of all, we will need to investigate general industry data. For instance, we have two major health industry reports: IBISWorld and First Research. Using these reports, we will be able to find out health industry trends that could affect the website's development. IBISWorld report has a section that has a market analysis of industries in the United States. It covers over 700 industries and updates every four months. In 2018, the market analysis shows that the industry has grown by 1.7 percent. The profit margin is 2.5 percent, and the most important thing is the total number of companies in the health industry: 803,377. On the other hand, First Research report is also detailed. It covers things like industry challenges, sales and marketing, customer data, and key statistics for the industry. These reports are paid reports, but universities or public libraries may have subscriptions. In our case, we are using the Florida Virtual Campus where students can access the E-resources tab for the academic databases and find market analysis tools for our industry. Furthermore, we also need to find customer data, which is the information and other statistics that describes customers. We use a website called Data.USA.gov whereby we can find some visualization of health industry data, including the website's daily browsing page and access to API. On the website, the data ranges from the average number of patients in a hospital to the median age of the patient. This type of data not only helps to identify who the current website users are but also it can reveal any opportunities to reach new audiences. Last but not least, we also need to learn about our competitors. By doing competitor analysis, it is easier to know what the others are doing. We can then compare the website's data to industry averages for website statistics and also to data from key rivals. By having this simple and easy to understand picture of how the website compares to the competition's data, we are able to make better decisions and improve the website. From the analysis, it is proven that performing market analysis will provide as much information as possible before making big decisions. All the information obtained from this analysis will be a solid background for the future planning that we are going to make for our health-related website.
1.4. Setting Clear Goals and Objectives
In the planning stage, we have already established the purpose and target audience of the health website. Next, we need to define the goals and objectives which the website must achieve. A clear set of goals and objectives is vital because it will guide the designer in creating the website and also the marketing team in executing promotional activities. Goals are statements of what the website's purpose is while objectives are quantifiable targets of how to achieve goal. An useful way to define goals and objectives is to apply the SMART principle which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. A goal is specific if it addresses a significant issue, a goal is measurable if it's possible to quantify the progress in some way, a goal is achievable if it isn't out of reach, a goal is relevant if it is something that make sense for the website and finally, a goal is time-bound if there is a clearly defined timeline for completion. For instance, a citizenship and immigration government webpage may set a goal of providing the online common information of immigrating and citizenship. Also, the website should aim to achieve at least 80% through survey feedback that users find the information helpful. The website should help at least 100,000 people every year. These objectives and goals are clear. Consequently, the design has a measurable target that the information should be helpful to most of the users. Also, it's obvious for the marketing team that how they run the publicity. By performing SMART principle, not only can the team get a better idea on how to develop and design the website, but also the management team will be impressive by the professional proposal. Finally, the website analysis would be easier and more accurate because there are already explicit goals and objectives to measure the success of the website.
2. Design and Development
2.1. Choosing a Suitable Content Management System (CMS)
2.2. Selecting an Appropriate Theme or Template
2.3. Customizing the Website's Layout and Design
2.4. Optimizing the Website for Mobile Devices
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