Creating an Effective Business Website
There are ten factors that we consider essential to an effective business website. These are the factors we consider for every site we build.
- Unique Marketing Position – Your site needs to state very clearly what is unique about your business. This is often known as your “Unique Marketing Proposition”. It can be done by way of a tagline: a short punchy line that sums up what makes your business stand out, but it does not have to be done that way. Some businesses aim for a very restrained website and use images and one or two words to convey the special characteristics of their business.
- Support your UMP – Your site needs to support or prove your Unique Marketing Proposition. Pictures and facts about your business help, as do product details and testimonials. What you claim about your business needs to be authenticated on your website.
- Answer the Key Questions – Your site needs to answer what I call the “key questions”. These are the questions that most of your potential customers come to your site for. If you are a retailer that means your location and business hours are key questions. So are the products that you stock and their prices. The answers to the key questions need to be on your site – on your home page if possible – and obvious.
- Storyboard your Site – Your site needs to provide a clear next step for site visitors to follow at every point, and ask them to take it by using action phrases like “Read more” or “Buy now”. I base this around what I call a “storyboard” – the series of steps you ask your customer to take. For example, your storyboard might work like this: the Home page, to the Products page, to the Shopping Cart, to the Checkout. Each page of the story should provide a clear next step to the next page. And for every page that is not on the storyboard provide a clear next step that leads into the story. For example, the About Us page, not part of the story, might have a clear next step to the Products page, which is part of the story. This applies equally well to a website that does not have online sales; your story might end with phone us, or email us, or come to our store.
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Create Stickiness – Your site should
contain additional information that is useful and of interest
to your visitors. This helps encourage repeat visits to your
site, a factor known as “stickiness”. Some
examples of this type of information are:
- Tips and hints
- How–to articles
- Special offers and promotions
- Electronic give–aways such as software, screensavers, wallpapers, icons, audio.
- News, especially product news of interest to customers
- Feature articles about your work, your customers, or your type of business
- Organise for the User – Organise the content in the way that your target user would expect to find it, not the way you would expect to find it.
- Write for the User – Language and images must be appropriate to your target market.
- Use Images – Appealing images are important. Your business logo is vital, but other original artwork and photos will enhance your site visually. If possible, select the best images for your home page.
- Proof–read – Correct language, spelling, punctuation and grammar must be used throughout your site.
- Have Fun – Don’t be afraid to use humour. Internet users are looking for entertainment as well as your products and services. They want to enjoy shopping with you. Be careful not to offend, and definitely don’t overdo it, but be willing to be funny!
