What the hell? Why?
You might ask those very questions when considering who should develop your all-important online marketing tool – your website.
Will it be a professional design company with years and years of experience selling products and services, will it be a recent graduate of the oh-so-unimpressive (and oh-so-binding, never leave, never change, never customize) Website Tonight or other “do-it-yourself” subscription-based product, or maybe you’d like to try one of those computer repair companies who suddenly know how to design websites for businesses in addition to wiring computers together… whatever you do… don’t let cousin Bob or your sister-in-law do it! Why use a marketing pro vs. a computer geek or hobbyist? Let’s look at some ways to make sure you’re developing a website that sells.
While there are no set-into-stone rules that relate to general web design, there are guidelines that will help make your site effectively convert visitors to leads and ultimately to sales. With more and more companies moving their businesses online, the competition is heating up. More competition means only the strong will survive, and to be strong, your website has to be designed to sell. Since you have about 7 seconds to capture a visitor, you’ll want your design team to know how to actually sell a product or service.
Here are 7 ways to make those 7 seconds count:
- Visually get attention
- selecting the right photographs is critical – there needs to be a message communicated via the images - Headlines encourage action
- short, concise, catchy headlines are about all the visitor gets to read in such a short time. Make them count!
- Critical content and call-to-action are tops
- above the fold is for specific selling and action information - If it’s important, SAY SO
- get bold/make important points pop - Who benefits?
- sell the sizzle, not the steak folks. It’s an oldie but a goodie that is still relevant today. Make sure your copy touts benefits not features - KISS
- keep it simple, sweet stuff. Just because you CAN program like a banshee, doesn’t mean you should! Keep navigation natural, make sure visitors always know where they are, and don’t overwhelm with choices - KISS your online forms, too
- don’t ask visitors questions that aren’t absolutely necessary. Keep it to who, what, and how to get back in touch. Consider yourself on a “need to know” basis and only ask what you absolutely need to know. Just because the programmer knows PHP, does not mean he should use your website to prove it
Does your web designer know and practice the AIDA strategy? Can they explain how to capture sales on your website using this tried-and-true marketing technique? Effective website design is more than just getting it programmed and published. Add smart development to experienced design and you have a recipe for a successful website for your business.
How does your website design affect its success? Let Inspired 2 Design count the ways you can invest wisely in the success of your business.