Any business owner will understand the importance of their website these days. Most people also understand that social media can be a useful promotional tool to drive traffic to their website. Some people even understand the ins and outs of search engine optimisation, bounce rates and conversion rates. But combining all of these things and making people really fall in love with your website, your product and your company is a real art.
Know what you want
As the Guardian points out, the first step to creating a great website is to know exactly what you want. You might be quite confident in this, knowing your colour scheme, which products you want to feature, whether you want a blog and how your images need to look. But what if you are wrong? Have you carried out a real market analysis?
For example, who is your ideal customer? Not the usual generic answer, “A male aged 18 to 35” or “Women with children aged 0-3”. Instead, have in mind a real live person. Who is your biggest advocate, your most vocal supporter and the person who swears by your product or service? How old are they, what car do they drive, what social media do they use? What magazines do they read, what makes them tick and what do they enjoy? Not sure? Ask them.
So going back to knowing what you want – it’s not about you. What you really need to know is what your customer wants. What will make them stay on your website? What will draw them to it even when they don’t have buying from you in mind? What sort of information would they like to see, what will they share? What incentives will make them stay in love with you? Your best customers are your best assets so get them involved as much as you can, don’t forget you’re trying to make more where they came from.
Get some help
When you have a really clear idea of what your customer wants to see, do it properly. Even if you are a Jack of all trades, unless you are a web designer, you are unlikely to be able to create the perfect website. Go for a local agency, look up a web design agency near you, for example if you are looking for a Hemel Hempstead web design agency you may call http://24-7website.co.uk
Using an expert will ensure that you get what you want rather than settling for a compromise. The Huffington Post produced a really useful article from an interview with a small business marketing expert. His love for the job and expertise in his field are truly inspirational.
The likelihood is, if you were interviewed about your line of work, you would be equally knowledgeable and inspirational to people who didn’t work in that field. You can’t be all things to all people so ask your best customer for help on – well, being your best customer. And find someone who will be as passionate about your website as you are about the rest of your business.