Coastal Services Center

SMART Objectives (1 of 4)

A very necessary part of creating a successful Web site is developing good goals and objectives for your site. Good goals and objectives are those that make sense, have some basis in reality, and can be measured somehow. The measuring part is particularly important. How can you possibly know if your Web site is meeting its objectives if you have no way to measure it? Here are some less-than-perfect objectives:

• This Web site will be the coolest one in all of Marine Biology Land.
• Our Web page will make our administrative assistant’s job easier.
• Within six months, the general public will be educated about our organization’s mission.
• This Web site will help preserve the ecosystem of the river basin.

What’s wrong with these objectives? Almost everything. The first one is obviously problematic. How do you measure “coolness?” For the second one, the objective is noble but too vague. The third one gives a time constraint (this is good) but doesn’t talk about what level of education is going to be provided, or what portion of the general public is to be educated. The last one is simply unrealistic.

When your Web site is not linked to or cannot fulfill specific objectives, it suggests that there was inadequate planning and vision during the development process. Generally your Web site should attempt to accomplish specific objectives that can be truly achieved or enhanced through the medium of the Internet.