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I wrote this for customers who needed website design help and guidance (ie they thought I was going to write their content, copy and put their catalogue up with them doing nothing).
A good little guide to start the website design thinking processes off on the right track.
An introduction to designing your website for business for success and profitability....
THE WRONG WAY TO DESIGN A WEBSITE
The vast majority of businesses create their website design the wrong way. Usually they suddenly
decide they need a website and then find someone to write a webpage for them. The reason for
having a website is not realised at the time the website is designed,and it is seen as a necessary expense
to “keep up with the times ”.
IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU NEED A WEBSITE, DON'T GET ONE
This is the worst frame of mind to enter the Internet market. You'll end up getting the cheapest
possible solution to an objective that you have not even defined yet. And we all know what cheap
gets you.....
Keep in mind the average web developer is happy to take the job and your money,assuring you that
you are doing the right thing then email you a .zip file, his job complete. What now? Where does
this “webpage ” go so that people can see it? What is the name people type into their browser? How
do new customers find your products? What do they care - they did exactly what you asked and got
your money – job finished!!!
This is another important reason that you have to take a proactive interest in your online presence
and what you want it to do for you.
A WEBSITE NEEDS A PURPOSE
Before you begin – what is your website designed to do? It's purpose has to be reasonable, feasible
within the budget, and measurable. Do you want it to :
- Make sales direct online
- Generate leads or enquiries
- Save on printing and shipping fees, send your customers to your website rather than mailing catalogues, manuals, warranty return forms, etc
- Keep in contact with customers, provide information on new innovations, products,or keep them informed with your monthly automated email newsletter, offer incentives to bring them back in more often,etc
- Redirect and minimise support calls -Your web site can answer many common questions for your customers. Customers can locate your store, generate a map and driving directions to your store.
- Increase membership
- Advertise an event
- Open up another, more efficient communication channel
- Speed up order to delivery cycles
- Allow 24/7 ordering for current customers, many customers appreciate the ability to order goods after business hours
- Gather or provide information,or enable discussion, whereby customers can talk to each other and build their own community
- Showcase your expert se through a catalogue, gallery or portfolio
- Attract and recruit talent
- What exactly do you want from your website?
WEBSITES SHOULD SELL
Your website will be selling something - same as in everyday life. You could be selling the
customer on coming back often to read your news column, to sign up to your newsletter, to
purchase a product, or to believe your reviews and recommendations.
Diamond tipped, depleted uranium drills are the only ones used by the C.I.A. in safe cracking vs We have the best drill tips in stock. Talk about what you can do for your customers and be specific about details, generalisations are not
believed - “Best in the market ” - Yeah right, everyone claims that. Best in the market because our facts give believability (but only if it's true).
There is an old adage in the marketing field that an advertisement should be salesmanship in print,
you talk about all the benefits that your customer is going to receive as if you were talking to the
customer face to face in the showroom. The Internet is no different.
Think of it this way. A man went to the hardware store to buy a 10mm drill, what did he really
want? A 10mm drill or a 10mm hole? Sell your products on what they do, what need they fill or
what problem they solve.
However a properly designed website with the right focus can generate pre-qualified leads and/or
direct sales for you 24/7.And you will be able to track responses so you can test and measure
differing methods/offers and find the method most productive for your needs.
Having your website sorting prospects and doing your pre-selling for you w ll save you time n the
long run as you will only be contact ng those whom there is a high chance of a sale.
WEBSITES SHOULD BE FUNCTIONAL
If the primary purpose of your s te is to offer funct onal interact on w th the customer,then it is very important to design the s te w th your spec fic customer in m nd.
For example a webs te servic ng older people should be s mpler n layout and navigat on compared
to a webs te a med at teenagers nterested n technology.Build your s te to suit your customers,not
your products.
Once the purpose s determ ned,t then needs to be des gned to sell to customers and not to tell how
wonderful your product/company are.This leads onto our next topic....
AVOID HIGH PRESSURE SALES
Do you l ke be ng sold to?People l ke to buy,not to be sold to.H gh pressure sales does not work
onl ne people can cl ck on the close button and you're gone.
On the other hand f your provide nformat on that your customers are searching for they w ll stay
and read,you ga n credibil ty and t w ll be more l kely that the customer w ll contact you to make a
purchase.
By providing the nformat on you w ll also be controlling the type of prospect you attract – if you
can solve a niche markets problem they w ll come to you and you can avoid the t me and
displeasure deal ng w th price shoppers – or f you have the cheapest price you can sell to them
directly,more often because your t me and effort are m nim sed.
SELL INTERACTIVELY
Sell nteract vely f you can afford the manpower to staff the s te during bus ness hours,there s no
arguing that this greatly mproves s te convers on rates.An opt on to chat w th a l ve consultant
now gives your customer that personal nteract on.Be ng ava lable for your customers gives
reassurance and builds trust.
DON'T TRY TO IMPRESS
You've seen commerc als on TV that are funny and memorable-or are they?Think of one,now that
you remember it what product was it for?Don't remember – ne ther does anyone else..
Often advert s ng merely succeeds n enterta ning us but rarely n making new sales.You may have
not ced that you never see ad agenc es advert s ng – Why?Because most don't know how to do t
effect vely or econom cally.It would seem absurd but most advert s ng companies resort to cold
call ng to generate sales.Don't follow the examples you see on TV.
The people to watch are the direct market ng community,the people that sell through letters or
keyed ads n the backs of magaz nes,the ones that run week after week – these guys test every ad
and know what works – follow the r lead..
A webs te s a great sales and market ng tool f used correctly.Offer value – give nformat on – and
have a “call to act on ” once your customers have read your nfo then tell them exactly what to do
next.
IT'S MEASURABLE
Onl ne market ng s nstantly measurable,you can keep track of results n realt me,you can change
offers and make correct ons as you go.
Keep track of where you best customers are com ng from,who they are and why they purchased.
Use this nformat on to then try to find new or unexpected markets,and change your sales message
to suit.Even open up a new webs te dedicated to this type of customer.Kleenex t ssues were
nit ally marketed as a make-up remover,they were a fa lure,but they were making some sales.
When they researched nto this they found that people were blow ng the r noses on them – WHAM!
Mult m ll on industry and a market leader born by acc dent.
Calculate how much it costs to get each lead or sale,how much each customer s worth to your
bus ness.You now have a sold platform to work your advert s ng from.If you make more than youspend you have effect ve advert s ng,you spend more than you make from a campa gn then youneed to fix or stop that advert s ng.
A webs te can even be set to run a “split run ” test altering different frontpages to customers so youcan check the effectiveness of different offers by tracking sales through each frontpage.Manyoptions like this are ava lable.
This goes way beyond tradit onal web statistics.
EVERY NUMBER COUNTS
If you need assistance n learning about the numbers you need to track and how to obta n them
contact us for further information. Or download phpAdsNew for free ad tracking on your site,
AFTER YOUR SITE IS BUILT /ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS
Once your s te is built you w ll need to ga n the attent on of your l kely prospects /vis tors.This can
be done in a number of ways.Here are some of the methods WeSendCustomers can help you w th:
•Free Banner Exchange – you advert se others bus nesses on your s te and they advert se you
•Comm ss on Market ng – others sell your product to the r members and rece ve a
comm ss on for each sale they make
•Search Engine Pay Per Click – purchase high rankings w th Google and Yahoo so that your
bus ness shows up high in the l sts when people search for your type of bus ness
•Onl ne compet t ons – can be used in various ways to collect leads
•Search Engine Opt m sat on – structure your webs te so that the search engines rank t
highly when relevant terms are searched for
•Market ng to current/previous cl ents for referrals
•Ema l market ng to selected,targeted l sts of l kely responders.
Each of these methods has ts advantages,and not all w ll be appl cable to your s tuat on – t all
comes back to the quest on of what is it you want your webs te to accompl sh?
The Banner Exchange,Comm ss on Market ng and Onl ne Compet t ons are all provided at no cost
to webs te des gn customers of WeSendCustomers
THE WRAP UP
As you can see there are many things to think about before you go and spend money on that
webs te.You need to know your customer base,know what they want and what you really need to
provide to them to make a sale.
You need to know what the exact defined purpose of the s te is to be and what funct ons it w ll fulfil
w thin your organisat on.
Then you actually get nto the meat of the des gn,that's where a respectable web services company
can help.
A webs te can be a powerful tool,if built correctly and for the right reason.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Contact us today by phone n Australia on (02)xxxx-xxxxor email us at
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
to discuss your online endeavours.
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