While it's traditional when discussing building a web site to use the metaphor of constructing a house, I find more people have constructed dinners than dining rooms. So please bear with me. Before beginning to cook, we need to know what we are preparing. The following questions should help us get some initial perspective. In 25 words or less, identify the target audience and the meaningful benefit to that audience the site or section offers.
Most sites fail because they lack a well-defined focus and benefit to their target audience.
So if the secretary who still uses the MicroSoft Office Assistant Paper Clip is expected to maintain the web site in her spare time, the site can't be much more than a static site or must have an enormously complex and expensive, custom administration program. You can have it fast. You can have cheap. Or you can have it right. But you can only have two out of three.