When you’re about to build a new website (or even if you’re giving your existing site a big overhaul), having a clear, smart website strategy is everything
This is your big chance to refocus and consciously steer your online presence to attract what you want. And strategy has to start with knowing yourself.
You’ll have your very own website strategy… DIY style!
- What do you do?
- How do you do it?
- WHY do you do what you do?
- Why are you passionate about it?
- Why did you start your business?
These ‘whys’ will be your main story. Tell this well, tell this succinctly, and this will be the reason your customer will buy from you and not your competitor next door!.
Demographic profile identifies the characteristics of someone who NEEDS your product. Psychographic profile identifies the reasons why someone WANTS your product.
- What is their age?
- What is their gender?
- What is their location?
- What is their income/job?
- What is my current relationship with them?
- Are they experienced in the internet?
- How would I summarise this group/s? (e.g. 40-50 year old balding, yuppy men in the Sydney metro area.)
- What do they actually want? (e.g. to look good, feel sexy, free of pain, etc.)
- What problems can you help them solve?
- What are their fears and concerns?
- How do they feel when they don’t get what they want? (e.g. frustrated, stressed, etc.)
ABOUT YOUR WEB VISITOR
- What does this business do?
- Why should I care about what they do? What’s in it for me?
- How does becoming a customer of this business compare with what I’m doing now?
- What are some typical results for my type of situation?
- What are the trading hours of this business?
- Do they have a shop or office I can visit? How do I get there?
- How can this business benefit me?
- Is there a phone number I can call?
- Does this business offer any specific products / services that might interest me?
- Why do I need these products / services?
- How do the products / services work exactly?
- What do you charge for shipping / freight? How long does it take for delivery?
- Do you have a returns policy?
- How do the products / services make my job / life easier?
- Are services available in my area?
- How much does the product / service cost? How does this compare to others?
- Is it easy to start with this service?
- What sort of signup terms or requirements do you have?
- How secure is my credit card and other information I give you?
- If I have a problem with the service how do I get help?
- Can I talk to a live person if I have any pre-sales or service support questions?
- Are there any deals / special offers available?
- How do I get more information?
- Can I talk to a live person?
- How do I get started right away?
- Do you have any printable material I could show my spouse / boss / colleagues?
DESIGNING YOUR WEBSITE FOR SUCCESS
- Homepage
- About Us
- Our Services/Products
- Contact Us
A conversion: getting your online visitor to perform a desired action.
Lead capture: a way of getting your prospective customer’s contact details so you can stay in touch and build trust and credibility in your brand.
- What can I offer in exchange for their contact details?
- Is my ‘offer’ a good one?
- Do I know what I’ll do with the lead once I get it?
DESIGNING YOUR HOMEPAGE
- User A: The impulsive butterfly: This visitor is visual. They’ll impulsively click on an option based on an appealing visual or heading – you’ll need visual branding and professional calls to action. This doesn’t have to mean a massive big banner at the top however (big banners are often a waste of important space anyhow).
- User B: The follower: Interested in what other people are viewing, or in certain categories of spend type – if nothing else, you’ll at least need testimonials which might be hyperlinked to the product they’re raving about.
- User C: The trendsetter: Wants to know what’s new – so perhaps have a ‘latest news’ box, plus make sure you run a list of products or services as new (if they are), keep your content fresh and make it obvious when something is new or improved.
- User D: The lazy clicker: Ignores drop-downs altogether, they like all the links completely set out, they don’t want to search and click, they find something they like and click directly on that. If they don’t get that they exit your website. – so provide either visual click-thru boxes or text based hyperlinks perhaps on the bottom of your footer.
- User E: The jetsetter: On the move, location-focussed mobile users. – Make sure you have a mobile version of your site available, or make sure your website has a responsive design that accommodates different web browsing sizes.
DESIGNING YOUR ‘ABOUT US’ PAGE
DESIGNING YOUR PRODUCTS/SERVICES PAGE
- Where they are in your website (showing breadcrumb navigational structure is important),
- What you’re selling in as much detail as possible (build confidence),
- How they can buy it (build security)
- Shipping info (build peace of mind)
- Returns policy (build trust)
- Examples of happy customers (build more trust for good measure)
DESIGNING OTHER WEB PAGES
OK, NOW WHAT?
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