Design Your Site For Your
Customers
by Karen Blundell
The most important person that you need to please when
you design your site is your potential customer. I can
not stress that enough.
I have clients who have told me "I don't like this
design or that one or I like these colours", etc.
I want to please my customers so I try to create a design
for them that they will be happy with, of course.
But my clients don't often think of their site visitors
or their own potential customers when they ask me to design
their site. Sadly most are thinking primarily of one thing
- how to make money from their website. And because their
focus is on making money rather than pleasing their customers,
more often than not, the website won't sell. And as much
as I try to advise them on how they can improve the quality
of the site, they stick to their own ideas of what the
site should look like. Then they email me later on and
ask me what are they doing wrong. Oh brother!
If you want to have a successful website you must think
of your visitors first. Before you hire a designer or
design a site yourself, you must define:
Your Main Page is Like a Sales Letter
Your main page should have a very strong sales message
which includes a keyword rich heading and a short introductory
paragragh telling your visitors what your site is about:
products or services. Next in bullet form, describe the
benefits of doing business with you. In other words, what
makes your business stand out or what makes you so special?
You need to add credibility to your site so use verifiable
testimonials. Offer bonuses or something free along with
your product or service and then close the sale by calling
for a clear action: Click here to order, sign up today,
request a quote, etc.
Next, you need to create a mailing list. Have your designer
install a mailing list script on your site so that your
visitors can subscribe. Once your visitors start reading
quality material in your newsletter, you begin to form
a relationship with your subscribers and they begin to
trust you. Trust leads to sales.
How Will They Find Your Site?
Once your site is complete, and I do mean complete, manually
submit your site to the top search engines, such as Yahoo,
Google, MSN and Alta Vista. Don't waste your time worrying
too much about ranking yet, because you are not going
to get a top ranking right away. No matter how much money
you spend on Search Engine Optimization services, your
website will not get in the top 5 position overnight.
Next, put your website URL and your email address on
your business cards and pass them out at every opportunity.
Make sure your business cards are a good quality stock
and that they clearly define what your business is about.
Most people are naturally curious and if they got a good
impression from you and your business card, they will
visit your site. Even if they don’t need your products
or services, chances are they know someone who does.
Word of mouth is very powerful. It is how I get most
of my clients. So if you have pleased one customer, that
person will tell someone, who will tell someone else,
and then your business will flourish.
Yours in Success,
Karen Blundell
About the Author
Karen Blundell is a web designer and internet consultant
based in Welland, Ontario. Her focus is to assist home
and small business owners succeed on the internet. You
can find out more about her services at http://webzonecentral.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
