After building hundreds of websites, I know what differentiates great websites form the rest.

I found that most entrepreneurs put little thought into their website. This is amazing to me, especially when your website is often what creates the first impression about your business.

Before you hire a web design company, you should ask yourself the following questions:

What is your goal with your website?

Not all websites are created equal. Some websites are about selling products or services. Others are about providing news. Some are about building credibility. Before you start building your website, you must have a clear idea about your goals.

A website that is built as a credibility tool will be very different from an ecommerce website.

Anytime a business spends money, there should be a return on investment. A website is no different. The question is: What type of return do you expect?

If you haven’t already created your goal for your website, start now. Don’t wait.

Understanding what you want to get out of your website can help you answer many questions, including:

[custom_list style=”list-1″]

• What information do we need to focus on each section of your website?
• What is the best organizational structure of your site?
• What will visitor need to do on your website?
• In what ways will your website help your business?

[/custom_list]

[message type=”simple”]

Do you have any questions about the right website for your business? Contact us now.

[/message]

Who is the audience for your website?

Who is your customer? You must be able to give a very specific and measurable answer.

[message type=”simple”]

Instead of trying to please everyone, identify your potential customers and build your website for them.

[/message]

Your audience will determine several factors about your website such as:

[custom_list style=”list-1″]

• The design layout.
• Font size and type.
• Color scheme.
• Navigation.
• The language and reading level of your content.

[/custom_list]

What is your budget for your website?

When a prospect tells me that he doesn’t have a budget for a website I don’t take him seriously. Why would I? They don’t take their own website seriously. As an entrepreneur, you have to work within a reasonable budget for any business expenditure. Your website is no exception.

You can build a website yourself if you don’t mind wasting your valuable time. Or, you can hire a professional web designer.

How will you market your website?

Many entrepreneurs, wrongly, assume that once their website is online the business will just start rolling in. Marketing your website requires a long term commitment to stand out from the millions of other websites out there.

Here are the most effective website marketing tactics:

[custom_list style=”list-1″]

• Content marketing – This is really what we used to call SEO. If you want SEO, you want content marketing.
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) – From Google adwords, to Bing and Yahoo to Facebook and Twitter ads. PPC is a great approach if you have a decent monthly budget for advertising.
• Email marketing – Email remains one of the most effective marketing methods. You have to make it your mission to aggressively grow your email subscriber list. Also, email regularly, at least once a month.
• Social media – Everyone is on at least one social network. Identify the most effective social network for your target market and focus on it.
• Guest blog – Write guest blog posts on a variety of blogs.
• Ad retargeting – If you are doing PPC advertising, ad retargeting is a very cost effective way to make sure your ads follow your visitors throughout the web.
• Video – Create entertaining videos about your niche and post them on Youtube.
• Podcast – Start your own podcast and list it in iTunes, Stitcher, and other podcast directories.

[/custom_list]

What solutions does my website offer?

Are you the best in your niche? If not, you are not focusing on small enough niche. Once you identify the right niche you can start offering solutions.

Consider the following questions as you think about what solutions your website should offer:

[custom_list style=”list-1″]

• Does your market have an urgent pain or passion? What keeps them up at night?
• Are they actively searching for solutions to their pain or passion?
• Can you target a niche within that pain they try to resolve?
• Are you able to offer effective solutions to resolve the pain?

[/custom_list]

What do you want your site visitors to do?

A great website guides the visitors to take the next step. There is a reason the visitor ended up on your site. Your job is to move the visitor through your funnel.

Spell out exactly what you want people to do. Do you want them to sign up for your email list, or download something, or to call you?

If you want people to buy your product, make the process as easy as possible. If you offer a service, explain how and why they can benefit from it.

Be clear and to the point. Don’t make your visitors think.

How will you stay in touch with your site visitors?

The greatest brands build a following. Your website should help you stay in touch with your audience. The biggest reason is that the average conversion rate online is only about 1 percent. What that means that only about 1 out of 100 visitors are ready to buy now. But, that doesn’t mean that you should stay in touch with more of your visitors.

Give people an option to stay in touch with you multiple ways such as:

[custom_list style=”list-1″]

• Email
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.)
• Blog (RSS feed)

[/custom_list]

By staying in touch you’ll give people an incentive to return to your website. The very same people could also become your greatest source for referrals.

Here are the key elements of an effective website:

[custom_list style=”list-1″]

• Appearance – People know when they are looking as good design or something that was done by an amateur. Your website may be the only shot you get to make the right impression about your business. Don’t let an outdated website take money out of your pocket. Don’t use more than 2-3 primary colors. Use text that is easy to read, and don’t use too many different font types. Keep it simple. The best websites are simple and to the point. Think Google.
• Content – If appearance has to do with style, content has to do with substance. Content is the great differentiator when it comes to websites. Most websites have little or no valuable content. Avoid fluff. Write in-depth content, better than what’s already out there. Great content comes in many forms from text, to audio, to infographics, to video, and more.
• Functionality – It’s true that your website has to look good, and it must have great content, but it also needs to work. Every component of your website should work together. You could have the best design, if it doesn’t work, people will stop using it.

[/custom_list]

[message type=”simple”]

Do you have any questions about the best website for your business? Contact us now.

[/message]

 

 

photo credit: Philadelphia