As more consumers feel comfortable making buying decisions solely though online tools such as Google search and business websites, smart entrepreneurs know to put their best foot forward when it comes to their online presence.  But have you looked at your website lately?  Do you know what it says about you?  Here are two common problems.

… “You don’t understand me”

It is hard to come up with products and services that fill a consumer’s need.  After all, it easier to sell something to someone if they already need it, right?  But creating that remarkable product/service is only half of the deal.  You need to explain the value of that product (‘benefits’) as well as what it does (‘features’).

That’s hard to do in the digital world where you have all the various types of media, but no verbal or visual feedback.  You can’t look at your customer and gauge whether they

understood you or not, then adjust your pitch.  So, if you aren’t careful, your target customer may visit your website and say “Hmm.  I don’t get it.  You don’t understand me and what I need.”

Ways to avoid this?

- Write in a language your customer understands (is that geeky technical?  Or maybe not technical at all?)
- Keep it simple, simple as possible.  Get all the information across you need to, but think of ways to use fewer words (or a picture) to explain it.
- Explain both halves of the equation: the features (what is it?) and the benefits (why? what’s in it for me).

… “You don’t want me to buy from you.”

Are you selling something or are you just filling the void you’ve claimed on the world wild web?  If you are reading this I suspect you are trying to sell something, so you should make that clear on your website.

The last thing you want to have is na incoming customer, interested in making a purchase, arrive at your site and go “This all looks great but since I can’t find what I’m looking for, or how to ask for help, I guess you don’t really want me to buy from you.”

Ways to avoid this?

- Know what your marketing channels are.  Make them VERY easy to access, whether that is a ‘buy now’ button, a contact form, or a telephone number.
- Drop the unwieldy graphics and auto-start videos.  They don’t add anything except noise.
- Walk them through the process, step by step by step.  Tell them what’s next, then tell them how to do it.

Take Action!

In case you haven’t noticed, the online space is a world of first impressions.  They make or break your business.  So take action and get some feedback on your website.  The easiest and cheapest way to do this is by asking your customers what they think.

You do talk to your customers, right?  Ask a few of them – maybe someone who hasn’t seen your site before, someone who is a regular buyer, and someone who has only used it once or twice.  Ask them to use the site and just watch, if possible.  You’ll learn a lot that way.  If you can’t get the feedback for whatever reason, pay someone to do it.  But you can’t afford not to put your best foot forward online.

Author Bio: Andy Hayes is a published author and entrepreneur in the travel industry.  His background is in technology, where he spent several years in various consulting roles working on enterprise resource planning and product management.
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Once set up, you need to regularly update your site to keep the interest of your followers and do a regular audit (at least once a month) of all links and pages to make sure the site is working as it should.

So where should you focus your attention?

Quality Content

The information you provide on your website has to be relevant to your target market and written in an interesting manner to easily capture attention of visitors. Make your content easy to understand as well by using simple English.

Opt in form

There’s no point driving traffic to a website if you have no way of knowing who stopped by! Build a list of potential clients by capturing the name and email of anyone that visits your site. Up your opt in by offering a free widget in exchange for a name and email address.

Business Branding

Stand out from the crowd. Be consistent in the message you convey about your business and if you are looking to build a website as an information portal or online business card, use your logo on the main banner of your website. This will raise brand recognition for your business.

Of course, websites designed to generate sales (such as squeeze pages) should not be branded. Rather, the focus needs to be on a killer headline.

Easy Navigation

Not all web users are skilled in browsing through websites. For this reason, you have to ensure your website is user friendly which means, as mentioned earlier, all pages must be properly linked together with no dead links. Get this right and you can direct your readers to the exact page they want to visit.

If you’re selling products and services on your site, check your shopping cart regularly. A broken cart will lead to lost sales.

Layout

Absolutely vital. Confuse your reader and they’ll leave. Don’t go overboard when choosing your colours either. White or yellow text on a black background is an absolute no no. Your reader will quickly get tired as that colour combination is very hard to read.

Pages to Include

What message are you trying to convey to your reader? At a minimum, include your main Home page, About Us which provides information about who you are and what you do and Contact Us which should outline easy ways for the visitor to get in touch (phone numbers or a contact box).

Other pages may include Testimonials, specific pages introducing your products and services, Events or Social Media Links.

Remember, a well built, functioning website is your online business card 24×7. Put it to work for you.

Author Bio: Wendy Moore is the founder of Savvy Web Women and creator of the Savvy List Building Blog – the information packed resource that shows business owners and entrepreneurs how to better understand the internet to build a highly responsive, targeted list of clients specific to their business niche. To receive your free Special Report and weekly how-to articles to expand your online List Building toolkit, visit Wendy’s blog below.
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Design – Keep it simple, fresh and in line with your message

First things first: the best performing websites make good first impressions. Keep your market in mind – for example, cutting edge design is more appropriate if you’re in the business of fashion as opposed to being a local plumber. In all cases, it’s important that your design is clean, fresh and in line with your branding and message. Update your website look every few years, and don’t get hung up on having award winning design – simple websites can be just as effective.

Fast loading – Three seconds to grab your visitors

Ever closed down a page because it takes too long to load? Join the club. The rule of thumb is that you only have three seconds to grab your visitor’s attention, so use it wisely. A fast loading webpage encourages your visitors to start navigating through your site sooner, not to mention giving them more time to find what they’re looking for on your home page.

Usability – What good is a website if people don’t know how to use it?

Along with a good design and fast loading is usability. A top performing website will have the end-user in mind. The design, navigation and layout needs to be purposeful so your visitor can find what they are looking for, and quickly. Other considerations include the primary objectives of your site and the intentions of your users. For example, if your primary website purpose is to sell products, emphasis would be on having easy search facilities, effective categorisation of products and user-friendly shopping carts.

Navigation – Make it ‘above the fold’

Going hand in hand with design and usability is navigation. It’s so important it warrants its own place on our list. We use the analogy that your navigation needs to be ‘above the fold’. In other words, if you were to fold your webpage and fit it in a DL envelope, your logo, tagline and primary navigation should be visible ‘above the fold’. Your primary navigation should prioritise the most important information or themes, making them easy for your visitors to find. Less important information can be categorised under this as a sub-menu or ‘child’ pages. Other links can be used throughout text, in quick links, in your footer etc.

Readability – Make it easy to understand

Don’t overdose on fonts, colours or sizes. Choose a style for your headings, body copy and so on, and stick to it. The most frustrating sites use five different font colours, and ten different fonts, making readability hard and information confusing! Knowing your market is also very important. Their age and how tech-savvy they are will play a part in determining how to display your content. If your market is mature adults for example, you might opt for larger text, simpler layout and avoid the use of certain colours.

Meaningful – Know your subject and provide well written content

It’s used over and over, but the term ‘content is king’ rings so true. When writing copy for your site, it should be knowledgeable, well written (you may consider a professional editor), and provide helpful and valuable advice. Give your visitors a taste of your good advice, so that they come back wanting more. Content also plays an important role in the way search engines rank you.

Data capture – Turn your website into a lead generating machine!

At the top of our list for essential elements of top performing sites is data-capture and/or lead generation. A great website will have some sort of offer to encourage visitors to leave their details with you. This might be in the form of newsletter sign-up, registering for a free gift or offer, requesting a quote, making an online enquiry or registering for an event. Combine your web forms with auto-responder emails or follow-up systems and be sure to value-stack your offers to entice people to leave their details with you.

Analytics – Track your results and manage your performance

Essential to building and maintaining a top performing site is tracking your results through site statistics or analytics. These should be built into every good CMS (Content Management System) but you can’t go past the free and comprehensive statistics available through Google Analytics. Important information to watch is how people are finding your website, what page they are entering on, what pages they are exiting on, what search terms they are finding you with, how many unique visitors you receive and what sites link to you.

Traffic – Create multiple streams of traffic sources

Last on our list of essential elements of top performing sites is traffic. A common thread with all top websites is that they have an abundance of traffic coming from a variety of sources including SEO, PPC (Pay-per-click), referring sites, offline marketing and active promotion to your database.

Author Bio: Katrina is a young and dynamic business woman operating a fresh new creative agency in New South Wales. She has been working in marketing and design for the past 6 years completing her design and communication degree in 2007 and joining The Creaitve Collective’s franchise network in Jan 2008. Katrina is passionate about what she does. Her vision is to work with business people to achieve a strong return on their investment, and professional marketing that they can be proud to face out.
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