The first step in designing and developing a website is to create a solid strategy: the high-level plan for realizing your business goals. It consists of answers to questions like:

- What is the business problem we are trying to solve?
- Why will people visit the website?
- How will it make money?
- How will it grow over time?

You cannot design an effective website without knowing the answers to these questions, and it is the strategy that will shape your design. Strategy is often glossed over at the beginning of a project - with more attention given to tangible aspects of web development like visual design and programming. Having a good strategy is a fundamental part of the process because it defines the business goals as well as the user goals and helps to understand the important reasons for having a website.