Technique Gallery - How to Design a Successful Web Site

So you have decided to build a new web site or redesign your existing one. What are the things that you need to know and the processes you should undertake to be sure that your new site works well for you and your business? This article is a bit long as there is a bit to cover so please feel free to print it out if that helps.

#1 Why do you want a web site?

If you answer this with something like - "Just because eveyone else has one" then I think you will struggle and probably fail from the outset. Let me ask you a question: Why do you have a business? I assume that if you have the courage to be honest (which all people in business should be) then your answer is: To Make Money.

I have heard several professional people say that their web site is not to sell anything but merely to give information. I have met several Marketing people who say that marketing is not about selling, usually with a tone suggesting that selling is beneath contempt. If any of these people were my staff I would sack them! Why would you engage in marketing, raising the profile of your brand, informing the public of your existance or any similar activities if at the end of it you weren't expecting to exchange some bits of bent plastic for cash?

Your web site should be fair and square to sell more of what it is you sell. Now don't assume that immediately means that you need to indulge in e-commerce or have any kind of a Buy Now button. What you want to do is prime prospects by answering all their questions and showing them that they want to take the next step in your sales process, whether that is a Buy Now button to relieve their credit card of coins, to get them to request more information, or even lob up at your showroom to leave thumbprints on your merchandise. A web site is one of the steps in the modern sales process (and a really good value for money one too).

#2 What does your Web Site need to do?

We know the main answer is Make Money and lots of it. But how is your web site going to participate in your sales process? Too often I see this question being answered in a 'top-down' fashion. Top-down meaning "I own the business and I will tell you the customer what I want you to know". Bad call. A customer has cash burning a hole in their pocket (despite their cries to the contrary) and is looking for a way to exchange it for happiness. They have a need which they want filled. Or more accurately: I have a need which I want filled in my way and my time to make me happier. Your web site's job is to make me want to give my cash to you (or your boss).

Please the user and he/she will love to toss cash at you. We all make most of our buying decisions based on lifestyle choices in these wealthy days. Now we have idea of who our users are and how they behave so what do they want from us to fall in love?

#3 How to turn your Web Site into a Selling Tool?

This is the dilemma that faces most people when they start to make a web site. For some reason, people who are excited and can talk for hours about their business, go all gummy at the prospect of promoting themselves. Some people feel that selling is a bit grubby and that selling yourself is well tainted. This is an understandable attitude but... if there are people out there thinking that if only there were a product like yours they would be so much happier in their lives then why wouldn't they be delighted to hear about you? If I met you at a BBQ and asked what you do and you told me "I design bow ties for goats" and I think "Wow, how cool, I could use me one of them for my goat" then how would that be a bad thing?

All you need to do to generate sales from your web site is to be enthusiastic about your product or service. Explain to prospective customers exactly what you do. Answer all their questions right from the get-go. Prove that your solution is better than the one that the fool up the road peddles by offering so much information that a customer who is a good fit for you wouldn't dream of going elsewhere.

There is a great tendency amongst salesmen to attempt to build a perfect sales pitch that will somehow result in 100% conversion. These pitches often don't build good customer relationships. I have seen (and built) sales pitches that make a host of mistakes but still result in sales. These flawed but successful processes are of great interest. The reason that they sell is most often "passion". In reality you can make a host of mistakes in front of a customer provided you have a decent product and show a great passion for your subject. So great a passion that people will want to join you in it. Heavy Metal music is a great example of this. The general media shun it yet it thrives. There are a steady stream of new people coming to the genre and while people do move away they tend to keep a loyalty. Old Metalheads are still going to wax lyrical about the first Black Sabbath concert they went to. Metal fans are devoted and make a habit of talking to other fans about new bands they have discovered. Back before MP3, fans would even buy 2 copies of an unsigned-artist cassette and send the second copy to someone they knew in another country! This is grass roots advertising at it's best. Tap into this by showing your enthusiam and you will develop a loyal customer base.

#4 What Content should your Web Site contain?

A good web site will vary a little depending on what it is selling but that varience is really quite small. The main thing that your site should contain is words. Lots of lovely words. There is a tendency to think that the web should contain mostly pictures. After all don't pictures tell a thousand words? Well maybe they do but when someone is interested in something then they will tend to take in text at an amazing rate of knots. Sure, people tend to pan and scan text but surely it is better to have information that people can choose not to read than to let a customer leave feeling unfulfilled.

Text fires the Imagination and the imagination raises Emotion. Emotion makes people fall in Love.
People in love are moved to Action. Love Overcomes obstacles.

Some marketers will still try to argue that you should leave people wanting more information so they call you. My answer to this is pretty well always, RUBBISH! Just think yourself, you are thinking about buying a new TV so you go to a shop and one of your first questions is "How much is this telly?" If the salesman doesn't answer you this basic question you call him an idiot and go to the next shop. So why would you do the same to your customers? People are very savvy these days. They know you have competitors and you should know that they are likely to visit about two of them before they buy. So why would you make a poor presentation? All that is doing is handing business to the other bloke. Tell it all, show your expertise. I write these articles so you I hope you think, "Wow, these iSmart characters are clever. When I develop my new web site I really ought to sit down with them." This is called "Developing a Relationship". A good web site develops a positive relationship, so start it by putting your best five or six feet forward.

Images are also very important on web sites. Images serve one of two functions (or shouldn't be there at all):

#5 Who should Build and Maintain your Web Site?

Ok so in theory anyone who is neat and organised can build and maintain a web site using a Content Management System like our Create but naturally there are some people who take to it better than others. Let me give you my broad opinions on who does and doesn't make a good web site creator:

The I.T. Guy: Ever since Homer Simpson pointed out to us that they have the Internet on computers now people have tended to view web sites as a function of the IT department. The logic seems reasonable: The internet is on computers, IT guys work with computers therefore IT guys should build web sites. Well ok. But what do IT guys specialise in and what are web sites supposed to do? Make computer systems work (hopefully) and sell stuff to people are the respective answers. Given this, does your friendly IT guy who makes your network network seem like a good salesman? Does he have an overwhelming passion for your product? Is he a good communicator? IT Guys if they have coding skill are instrumental in developing web sites but really only on the back end.
The Graphic Artist: Graphic Artists make things pretty and often say they make web sites so why don't you give your web site to them? Well ok but beware as many graphic artists are so interested in making things look clever and "creative" that they often completely forget that your web site is supposed to be selling things. Graphic designers also often make poor writers. Understandable because all of their energies go into images. The other thing is that often the creative personality tends to be a bit funny about sales so they may not really ask for the client's business. A good designer is a joy to work with if they have a good understanding of User Interface. User Interface is ensuring that users like the environment and can work easily in it. If I can't find the product then how can I buy it?
The Owner: The Owner of the business should be the perfect person to build the web site because they have many of the pre-requisites for creating a sale: knowledge, problem solving, passion and a desire to make money. Sadly often the business owner makes a poor web developer because they get so caught up in details, functions and the minutea of business life that they don't have time. The owner is also likely to forget that others don't already know everything there is to know about their product. They seem the first to build something like; "Welcome to our web site. We are great. Press the Buy Now button on the way out." Ghastly. The owner should most definitely be positively involved in the web site. They should at least be giving the person flying the site plenty of time and encouragement.
The Salesman: In many ways the salesman is a very good choice to build a web site as he is on the front line, in the trences, at the coal face of the customer conversion process. I think every company should do everything they can to get their sales force involved as these are the people who know what turns customers on. They know what questions get asked day in and day out that should get answered on the web site. The same goes for support and call center staff. Sadly often the character of the salesman doesn't let them have the patience to sit and write, let alone get exctited about page layout and search engine optimisation. Whatever you do, get and keep these people involved. Tell them that being involved will help them to make more money. This should get their attention.
The Marketing Guy: This is exactly the person who should be developing the web site. Marketing is all about developing new customer relaionships and driving new and repeat sales. The only thing to watch out for is something that I mentioned earlier, some marketing people seem to want to divorce themselves from sales and think of their role in abstract terms of 'brand recognition' and 'profile raising'. I personally think this makes them poor marketers. If they are passionate about increasing your business (or at least the thrill of watching the numbers climb) then these are the people to be doing the day to day work of making sure your site is up to date and answering any and every question a prospect could reasonably have, along with a clear call to action and set of paths for people to contact you.
I think the ideal person to develop and maintain your web site is: self starter passionate about the product & business good communicator write well - easy and conversational understand sales understand people know the product well sucess and results driven tidy and well organised logical but able to think outside the box always want to learn and improve check their work empowered by management enquiring able to involve all the staff to see opportunities to develop content
When you find this person, pay them scads of cash and make sure they stay so interested they never ever think of leaving you (even for holidays because no one else will think to work on your site in their absence).
images from www.istock.com

Having a strong idea of what you need to achieve makes the process of developing your web site so much easier so please don't skimp on this preparation. Skimping on preparation could see you making nasty mistakes that cause you a lot of frustration down the track. By now you hopefully have a pretty clear idea of what you need to consider before starting your web site.

If you have any questions or want some assistance with creating something like this for yourself please don't hesitate to contact one of us here at iSmart.

iSmart Software

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