What happens when your web site is visually unattractive, difficult to navigate, poorly designed for search engines and lack motivating content?
You get:
Visitors who don't stay very long
A lower business image
Less action performed by visitors
Less traffic from search engines
And the worst thing is the message that it puts out ...
Since a web site is really for the visitor's benefit, a poorly designed one can be interpreted as "We don't care about you."
That is a tough nut to swallow! There are a lot of sites that are just like that ... and their business would actually be better off having no web site. So, what should your site be doing?
Your web site needs to attract interested visitors and serve them so that they take action.
Visitors that come to your site whether from search engines or other sources should be attracted to what you have to offer, click thru your pages easily, and take action with little difficulty. When visitors have a pleasing experience:
Prospects are more likely to become customers
Customers become more loyal
Visitors get a higher image of your business
So how did I end up with an ineffective web site?
CULPRIT ONE - your site was handed to you. Whether it was created by a designer or an automated program, your site was handed to you with very little consideration for your business.
The site fails because critical aspects of your business were not communicated such as your marketing message, your image and your existing advertising efforts.
CULPRIT TWO - you did your own site without enough tools. In this instance you, the business owner, computer guy or graphic designer, had to function as the web site strategist. You had to know about organizing pages, compiling good content, creating effective layouts, compliance with search engines, proper download speeds, cross-browser considerations, and on and on.
But get this ... Even if the two of you, business owner and web designer worked together well, you are still missing the key ingredient! Which is ...
Introducing the Third Element critical to effective web design --> The Visitor
Who is the person who uses a web site the most? Right!, the visitor, i.e. the end user, i.e. your ideal customer. It's their interests and desires that need to be satisfied in order to get action from your site. Imagine ... How much more effective would a web site be, if your end user had a hand in building it? What if your end user actually told you want they wanted on your site?
Some key questions to ask to gain insight into your visitors:
Who is your ideal visitor?
Why should they come to your site?
What do you want them to do at your site?
What can you do to get them to act?
Getting answers to those questions will make your site more effective at generating more leads, sales, ezine signups, registrations, etc.
PTH Associates Web Development helps you build more effective web sites by tapping into the mind of the end USER.
Since 2001, we have been helping small businesses create more effective web sites. We provide web development, web marketing and search engine optimization designed to motivate the end user into action. Contact us to get help with your web site.
