Write a business case for a new website

Articles on digital and content marketing

The above sample business cases are good to help inform your marketing team, or leadership team, on the benefits of a new website. If you want to learn how to create your own bespoke business case that is specific to your marketing strategy, then we have a number of articles for you below. You may want to start with a business case example, then develop it further using the tips in the below articles.

In short, here are the main tips to keep in mind when developing a your business case for a new website. If you don't have time to read all the articles listed below, then you should definitely read this summary before starting to write a business case.

Always start with an executive summary

Members of your leadership team will not have the time to consume large volumes of content on why they should be spending more money on a website that looks fine to them. Keep in mind that executives and senior managers are already required to read large volumes of text weekly and don't have the bandwidth to add to that list of documents. Your executive summary should highlight the costs and benefits because financial benefits often appeal to key stakeholders and decision makers. Ensure you link the benefits to your organization's strategic plan.

Provide the relevant detail

While you shouldn't start with a deep dive into why your organization needs a new website, you should still make it available in your business case.

While you need to articulate the business problem, you shouldn't stop there. You should explain how your proposed course of action, a new website, will solve the problem at hand.

Include a competitive analysis, or market assessment, that demonstrates how well your competitors are doing in the digital space since leaders don't want to be left behind their competitors.

Put time and preparation into how you'll be presenting your business case

Demonstrate that it will be a well run project

Leaders don't want to invest budget into a project only to have it run over time or over budget. To create a successful business case, ensure you demonstrate that you have considered and planned for the importance of project management. While you don't need to have a fully documented project plan ready, you should at least have well designed indicative gantt chart, and documented roles and responsibilities so that key stakeholders understand how many resources will need to be invested in this project. Since this relates to costs, ensure your business case is linked to your organization's business plan. You could also consider including a cost benefit analysis which should help with any internal financial appraisal processes.