What you need to know before you get a website.

Before you employ a web designer you need to know why you’re creating a website. What is it that you want to achieve with the website? A lot of clients come to me and are confused when I ask them this question:

“What do you mean why?”
“I want a website! I need one!”
“All my competitors have one!”

The point is, a website that doesn’t have a clear purpose is hard to design and probably hard to use. There are many reasons you might want a website. You might want it as a brochure, or a sales tool or to get names on your mailing list with the aim of long tale sales. A lot of my clients want it to do all this and more but you need to focus on one goal. Before you start you need to choose one specific goal. This will be the thing the website does best.

Focus on your Website Goal

If the goal is to get names on a mailing list then you want to make sure that this is the first thing that they see and that there is something to encourage them to sign up. A bit of value so they feel happy handing over their details. Perhaps you want to let them download a free guide, or a special discount, show them a free webinar or video. You want them to realise from the first moment that they are getting value from you.

If you want to sell product then you need this to be the first thing they see. You need them to know – immediately – that they are in the right place and make is abundantly clear how they purchase your product. If a customer can’t work out how to do what they want to do you want them to do in ten seconds they will probably leave.

If you want it to act like a brochure then they need to see what you’re offering on the first page. You don’t want them to have to hunt around to find your portfolio. Because they probably won’t. They’ll probably just move on.

Once you’ve decided what the purpose of the website is then you need to think about your offer. What are you offering them? Why should they choose you? This needs to be crystal clear to them as soon as they visit the website.

Once you’ve got that sorted, it’s probably time to contact us.