Website Design Considerations
Website Design Considerations
Q: Should I build and maintain my business Web site
myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L.
A: When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, Wesley,
I am going to assume that you are talking about hiring a professional
Web site designer to do the work and not your next-door neighbor's
teenage son. If my assumption is correct, then read on. If not,
go ahead and surf on over to Dilbert.com. You will get no good out
of the advice I'm about to give, so you might as well consult Dilbert
for your hot business tips.
Should you build and maintain your business Web site yourself or
pay someone to do it for you? Let me answer your question with a
couple of my own. Number one: is building and maintaining Web sites
the key focus of your business? Number two: could your time be better
spent doing more important things like, oh I don't know, say running
your business? If your answers were no and yes, respectively, then
you have no business building and maintain a Web site.
Remember this: every minute you spend on tasks that are not related
to the key focus of your business is time spent to the detriment
of your business. In other words, every minute you spend focusing
on tasks that do not contribute to the growth of your business and
thereby increase your bottom line is time wasted.
If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if
the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn't take
a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better
spent building widgets, not Web sites.
Case in point: I once had a very wealthy dentist ask if I could
teach him how to maintain his Web site so he wouldn't have to pay
me to do it. Now my teeth had helped put this guy's kids through
college, but that didn't seem to matter. At that moment he was more
concerned about having to pay for changes to his Web site than my
personal oral hygiene.
Sure, I said, I'll be glad to teach you how to update your Web
site, just as soon as you teach me how to clean my own teeth so
I don't have to pay you to do it. He got the point. And he charged
me enough for the cleaning to keep his site updated for months.
Smart man.
Many business owners think they can't afford a professionally designed
Web site and that simply is not true. While the old adage, "you
get what you pay for" is never more true than when applied
to Web site design, having a professional web designer do the work
for you is money well spent. A well-designed Web site can bring
you a many-fold return on your investment.
You can't say that about too many other collaterals. While it is
best to leave Web site design and maintenance to the experts, it
is up to you (or someone considered a subject matter expert within
our company) to provide the designer with the content (text and
photographs) that best conveys your company's message to your customers.
A Web site, no matter how well designed, is meaningless if it lacks
the content required to interest customers in the products you sell
or services you provide.
Here's are a few questions that, once answered, will help ensure
that your Web site's message is as appealing as its design. Go over
these points with the designer before the design process begins
as the answers will help determine the direction your Web site's
design should take.
What Is The Purpose Of Your Web Site? Most business Web sites have
two purposes: (1) to educate the consumer and, (2) to sell them
products or services. If you sell shoes, for example, the purpose
of your Web site is to educate potential customers on the quality
and durability of your shoes and as a result, to sell them shoes.
If you paint houses the purpose of your Web site is to educate home
owners on why your services are superior to other painters and sell
them on hiring you to paint their house. By defining the purpose
of your Web site you will give the designer the information required
to create a Web site that best conveys that purpose to your target
audience.
Who Is My Target Audience? Your target audience consists of those
folks you want to attract to your Web site: potential and current
customers, future and current employees, possible investors, etc.
Anyone who might be interested in your company and its products
or services is a member of your target audience. Correctly identifying
your target audience is vital since your Web site should be designed
specifically to appeal to your target audience.
Put yourself in their shoes (or in front of their computers). Imagine
your Web site through their eyes. If you were visiting a Web site
such as yours what would you expect to find and what would you be
disappointed not to find? Identify your target audience, then have
your Web site designed to fulfill their needs and surpass their
xpectations.
What Content Should My Web Site Feature? Your Web site content
should be driven by the nature of your business. If you're a real
estate agent, your site should feature photographs of homes you
have for sale and information on buying and selling a home. If you
own an auto body shop, your site might feature before and after
photographs of cars that you have repaired. Remember to determine
the purpose of your site, then develop the content to serve that
purpose.
What's My Competition Doing? The last question you should ask is
one of the most important: What is your competition doing on the
Web? Do a Google search for similar businesses and click around
their Web sites. How are their Web sites designed? What message
are they trying to convey? Are they doing a good job of conveying
that message and as a result, selling products? What do you like
about their Web sites? What don't you like? Make note of the things
you like and the things you hate, then share your findings with
your site designer.
Remember, you're not stealing trade secrets here.
You're just borrowing ideas.
Here's to your success.
About the Author Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net
For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit
http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
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