| |
| |
|
The Brutal Truth
Not too long ago while looking for businesses that do web design I stumbled upon website. It looked great. It had cool pictures arranged in a grid. But I couldn't figure out what to do next. So I moused over one of the pictures. Nothing happened. I moused over another picture. This time some words came up. I felt like I was playing Myst. I can't stand Myst. I felt frustrated. All I wanted to know was how much they charged for designing a web page. Why do people build websites like that? It's because they don't understand how the web works. The brutal truth is people don't care how great your website looks. What they care about is what your website can do for them. People generally use the web to find information, be entertained, find a solution to a problem, or buy something. Anything that hinders them just causes frustration. People aren't interested in flashy websites. They're interested in websites that can give them what they want. The key is to be visitor-centric. Allow me to give you an example: Let's say you own a fast-food outlet and you want to put up a website. The question you need to ask is why would people visit your website? Some answers are: 1. They're checking out local fast-food outlets and what to know what you serve and how much you charge.2. They're hungry and looking for a place where they can get some quick food.3. They're looking for a fast-food outlet that delivers. On the main page of the website I would have a catchy headline, menu with prices, an easy-to-find phone number, a location map, and if applicable, a "Yes, we deliver!" in big bold letters. I would put information such as who you are, how long your business has been around for etc, in an "About" page. After you've put up your website you need to try it out. Test it as if you were an actual visitor. Ask yourself, does it give you what you want from a visitor's point of view. If you wanted to know the price of a hamburger could you find out quickly and easily? Here's another example: Let's say that after doing some research you discover there's a niche market for people wanting information on cigar boxes - where to find them, how to make them etc. You also discover that there's not that many websites about cigar boxes. So you decide to create a website that's all about cigar boxes. Again, the question is why would people visit your website? The answer is to find information about cigar boxes. The answer is simple enough, but you'll be surprised at how many people would build such a website with the information on cigar boxes buried in some hard to find place. On the main page I would have a catchy headline and a listing of articles on cigar boxes with links to other pages on the website. Under each listing I would have a short description to let visitor's know what the article is about. I would also have a search button. That way, if someone was looking for information on how to make a cigar box they could find the information quickly and easily. I would not full up the main page by telling my visitors how fantastic my website is. Nor would I waste my visitors' time with a flash intro. They don't care. What they care about is what your website can do for them. A quick word on flash intros: the vast majority of people skip flash intros. And nearly everybody skips the flash intro the next time they visit the website. Unless you have a strong reason for putting a flash intro on your website, don't. It'll only serve to frustrate your visitors and you will lose potential customers. Here's an exercise you may like to do. Find two movie directory sites. For each one see how long it takes you to find out who directed the movie "Fight Club". Now ask yourself what was the better website. Was it the flashiest looking one or the one that allowed you to get the information you wanted the easiest and fastest? Don't waste your money and time trying to make your website look the best. There will always be people with more time, money, and resources to make their website look better than yours. It's enough that your website creates a professional image. Concentrate on being the best website for your visitors. Fulfill their wants, not yours. It's really no different to any other kind of business. Those businesses that give people what they want will prosper. Those that don't will not. Remember, always be visitor-centric. Focus on giving your visitors what they want. Find out how one web site averages over $27,000USD in revenue per month with only around 100 visitors a day. Visit kdaviesnz.com and download this essential *FREE* report today!
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Top Ten Checklist For Low Web Site Sales You have good traffic, but low client sign ups and other sales. Web sites are only as good as their copy. Designing Your Web Site For ALL Browsers Let's face it. Building a web site that browses consistently on multiple platforms and multiple browsers is not always as easy as we would like. Tableless Web Designs: Why I Switched Since I made the switch 6 months ago to a tableless design on my main site, I've noticed some interesting things:My search engine rankings have dramatically improvedMy bandwidth usage has dropped about 50-75%I can now make changes to the look and feel of my site easily by just changing the one file, the stylesheet.Let's look at why my search engine rankings improved. Website Design: 10 Web Site Design Pitfalls To Avoid If you've a website that is not generating a lotof sales, it may be due to some design flaws.Below are website design flaws you shouldcorrect now, to empower your website:1. Is Your Website Color As Inviting as Your Home? Does Color Really Matter? We've all read the countless publications about effective web site design, outstanding written content and the never ending need for search engine optimization. But often the importance of color for a web site is overlooked. Secrets to Using Color on Your Website and Common Pitfalls to Avoid Colors have long been known to have psychological affects on mood and interpretation. So, when you are designing your website, you should keep in mind the influence color might have on your visitors. Finger Eating Garage Door Reveals Breakthrough Web Design and Linking Strategy Last Thursday afternoon I was working on a garage door and regrettably loosened the torsion spring too much. This spring is what relieves or neutralizes the weight of the garage door so the openers can work without burning out and so you don't have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to open it. 11 Steps to Sticky Web Site! An attractive and user-friendly Web site is crucial to attracting prospects and holding their interest. Seems obvious, yet poor design and even more poorly written content clutter the Web. Website Maintenance: What Does it Take to Manage Your Website? Every action has a beginning phase where you launch your activity, a middle period in which you must sustain and develop it and a conclusion. Many people set up a website enthusiastically but then they find that they don't have the skills or knowledge to maintain and develop it. Keep Your Navigation Highly Visible Effective navigation stands out. It's clear, obvious, and highly visible. Web Design: Should You Hire Someone or Do It Yourself? So you need a website. You are not sure if you should hire someone or learn HTML and do it yourself. Moving Things Around How often, men, have you come home to find the living room furniture in different places? Your wife said she was ready for something different, so she moved some things around. It may have been inconvenient at first, but deep inside it felt good to have things a little different at home. Web Marketing: Design Mistakes That Drive Customers Away In Droves They may look cutting edge, but if you want a web site that contributes to your bottom line here are some design ideas you will want to avoid: Opening with Flash. If your site opens with a movie that your prospect is forced to sit through, no matter how short, before they can get to your "welcome" or "home" page, you are losing customers. What Content to Publish on Your Website Many businesses want a simple website where they tell people what their business is about, some information on the products they offer and a means of contacting them.However, content is vital in the growth of your Internet presence. How to Create A Homepage That Works Want to know what the worst thing to say on a homepage is?"Welcome to our homepage." And yet, time after time, we all come across such homepages on the Internet. You Need RSS, Atom, and ROR/RDF Codes on Your Website--Now You Need Google Sitemap as Well! Do you have a website? If so, you need an ROR XMLNS code button which leads to a full ROR/RDF code page for your website. This code tells search engines all about the special details you input into the code about your website. Speed Up Or Lose Out! How To Improve Your Websites Download Speed So your web site's online and you've got high rankings in the search engines attracting lots of visitors. But the statistics tell you most of them are leaving after viewing just one page, what's gone wrong?One possible cause could be a slow download speed of your web site's homepage or the web site as a whole. Build It And Build It Cheap! There are several very good reasons why you should consider building your own web site versus having someone do it for you. It's more cost efficient, you can make it much larger in content, you are more involved in how you want the pages to look, and I have actually enjoyed learning the dos and don'ts of website profiling. Custom Icons For Your Specific Brand Developing a software application is not easy at all; apart from the effective creation of the application you'll have to think of other things as well, like: making the software easy to work with, giving it a unique and appealing look, making it better than other software, etc. Apart from the qualities of the application, these little things are the ones that promote your software application among the end users. Simple Lines and Shapes for Your Logo Design Geometric designs come in all shapes and sizes? and lines. You can create your logo design or customize your illustration by using simple lines and shapes to create your very own unique image.
|
| home | site map |
| Webdesign-box © 2006 |
