Website Wisdom – Part I – the Do’s and Dont’s

Price – web is a proven low-cost method to receive feedback. Quality – listening to and addressing your customers’ needs and requests will increase the quality of your service and/or product. Delivery – by responding to customer requests faster (say from an online questionnaire), you can get them what they need in a shorter amount of time.

A fine-tuned system can help you sell your product or service while you are sleeping – even if it only acts as another touch point to answer a customer’s frequently asked questions.

Do’s

Target your market
Do understand your target market demographics. It is important that the design and colors of your web presence (and other marketing materials) are targeted towards your audience – not you as an individual. Leopard print may be your favorite pattern, however it may be inappropriate for a financial consultant company.

Do your homework
Check out your competition to see what sections and features you want to incorporate into your website. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel; statistically, you will have a competitor that is one step ahead of you as you read this.

Browse portfolios
Do select a website development company with a portfolio you like. Odds are if they have created something you like for someone else, they can do the same for you.

Get it in writing
Make sure that you and your web company both understand exactly what is to be delivered with regards to work and payments, to avoid conflict and/or delays.

Dont’s

Don’t trade your time for experience
Don’t use a free website builder unless your needs are minimal, and you have a lot of time to learn about creating and testing your site. An experienced web developer will have a far more robust system that will allow for many more features. Just because you hire someone to create your website doesn’t mean you can’t edit it in the future by yourself. Content Management Systems (CMS) allow for a developer to deliver a user-editable website that can be edited in an ordinary web browser, not unlike editing a Microsoft Word document.

Don’t have stale content
Once your website is up and running, make sure to keep your content current. Not only will it keep your customers coming back for more, but it will also increase your search engine rankings.

Don’t forget to track your traffic
All too often, web traffic analysis is overlooked. By reviewing the statistical data of your web traffic, you can steer your online content towards the interests of your audience. Google Analytics offers one of the best free web statistic tools available. While it requires the setup of a free Gmail account, these user friendly tools are worth their weight in gold if you want to see how your visitors are finding your website. This is also a good tool to track any online advertising campaigns, and their effectiveness.

While there are many more intricacies that will contribute to a successful website, these guidelines should point you in the right direction. Your website is the welcome mat to your company, so be sure it’s representative of your image and branding, in order to deliver a consistent customer experience.