Purpose of websites
A websites services the needs of the user and the business who made the website.
To make a good website, what each party needs and whose needs are more important.
Without this understand, the website will become cluttered with information and pictures that isn’t “on target”.
To be clear and informative
You need to be clear and to the point so that the user understands that they are in the right place.
Keep the website clear and simple so that people with little time can understand it without any effort.
To build trust
You build trust by looking professional and acting professionally. The website represents the business and so its a good tool to build trust or mistrust between business and user.
The emotional side
There is an emotion perspective. Both users and businesses want to create an emotional (non-rational) connection.
This is why good photography is important.
User Vs Business
Businesses want to talk about different things. They usually want to “market” and sell and convince. They want to talk about the business.
Users don’t want that. They want clear information, and they don’t care to know about the business. Unless you’re Starbucks.
This is why creating a website for a business can be difficult because a business isn’t always giving good content and why you shouldn’t always listen to the client.
Different users, different needs
Different visitors to a business website will have different needs. Knowing all those needs in advance of building the website will help build a better website.
This won’t be needed for small businesses, but for larger companies it certainly helps to identify what content should go in the website.