First Steps to a Successful Website

While many business owners are still content to have any kind of website, the real purpose of any internet presence is to market the business. Whether your marketing strategy is to create awareness, generate leads, or make sales, fundamentally your website is there to market your business.

Why, after all, does Boeing have a website? They are a very large, very well-known airplane manufacturing company that has, as a customer, the United States government. Why would they need to have a website?

It’s simple; they want other businesses, the public, their employees, and shareholders to know that they are responsible corporate citizens.

What better way to do this than to have an internet presence that communicates their commitment to quality and to the citizens of this country?

Okay, off the pedestal.

How do you get your website to communicate value to the people your company serves? Essentially you should approach your web project in the same manner you approach business, starting with a goal.

Goals help you decide what you want to include on your site. For example, if your goal is to show the public that your company is community-oriented you’ll want to include those organizations that your company supports and the type of assistance you give. If your goal is to generate leads then you need to tell people why they should do business with you.

Think about your target audience. Is it primarily women, men, business owners, consumers, manufacturing companies, pet owners, or even people that like tattoos? Identify your target audience and you’ll be in a better position to write copy that will guide visitors through the process of evaluating your services against your competitors.

What makes your business unique and sets you apart from your competitors? The answer to that question is your value proposition and you need to know your unique approach to serving your target market to make sure that you are communicating your core message effectively.

Don’t make your site into just another online brochure.

Having a good navigation system is essential to the success of any website but just clicking links from one page to the next does nothing for the visitors in terms of creating a relationship. Every salesperson follows a distinct path from the moment they first meet a potential customer to the time the sale is completed. It’s this path that needs to be developed within the website. A carefully constructed website can mimic the same system and bring your visitor from just another click to buying into the overall process.

Another common feature in many websites is the call to action message. This is also common in most print materials and brochures. Ironically people like to be told what they need to do if they want to do business with you. There are many imaginative ways to incorporate calls to action within the site, more than just “click here for more information.” Brainstorm with your sales team to come up with those messages.

Once you have the attention of your visitor, you need to capture their data! What if they don’t buy from you the first time they come to the site? If you have their email address you can continue to market to them. The way you get the data can be very creative: give away a free e-booklet, offer an online newsletter, ask for feedback, or have a contest. There are many ways to gather the information you need to keep your name in front of the visitor.

Remember that graphic design is not the primary marketing tool on any website. Yes, it brands the company, establishing credibility. And yes it looks pretty so people will want to read the text. Realistically that should only be a small part of the overall web project. Focus your attention on telling your story, offering benefits, and giving a reason to do business with your company. You already know this intuitively because you don’t make a purchase based solely on the way something looks, you generally read the label or get further print information.

Once you have considered all of the above it’s time to promote the site. All this hard work amounts to nothing if no one finds the site. You’ve probably heard this over and over again but it’s worth repeating. There are billions of websites on the internet; you are just one of them. Site promotion includes search engine optimization, search marketing, pay-per-click ads, banner ads, e-newsletters, etc. Don’t be afraid to combine your efforts across the board for better saturation and more impressions.

Finally, use web analytics programs to see what is working and what needs to be changed. You wouldn’t keep running the same print ad or commercial over and over again if you never see an increase in sales, don’t do the same thing with your website. Set the bar high, expect results, and apply the principles that equal success for your company.