“If I build it, they will come.”
There are millions of websites on the world wide web. Some are great and others… not so great.
By Wolfgang Franke
Websites are a wonderful thing. They work 24/7 without complaint. They don’t need an office. They never have to be paid benefits. And they have the potential – the potential – to reach billions of customers. So why are so many websites a complete failure? Because website developers make the following false assumptions; we call them the “seven deadly sins”.
1. If you build it, they will come
Sorry, the truth is many sites couldn’t be found with a search warrant.
2. Design is more important than content
On the web, content is king for two reasons: search engines are designed to look for keywords, not images; visitors are looking for information, not fancy graphics. The challenge is to have content that is both visitor-friendly and search-engine friendly. Get this wrong and your site will end up in a cold, dark corner of cyberspace.
3. Web designers are trained in graphic design
We are amazed by the number of websites that are virtually unreadable. The problem is that many web designers lack training in graphic design – and hence are not aware of design basics such as how to choose the right font size, line spacing and column widths.
4. Web designers are expert marketers
Very few web developers have any marketing training, let alone any internet marketing experience. As a result, their work is limited to converting print advertising into web pages, known in the trade as “brochureware.”
5. Build it and forget it
It is quick and easy to update or add web pages to your website, yet many companies go months – or even years – without making any changes, additions or updates. Naturally, visitors note these failings and never visit again.
6. Web visitors are patient
Actually, the opposite is true. Web visitors have no tolerance for the most common website mistakes: home pages that take too long to download, misleading and/or confusing content, forms that don’t work, links that go nowhere, menu systems with dead ends and so on.
7. Company information is important to the visitor
Wrong, wrong, wrong. If you check the web traffic stats of effective sites, you will see that company info, typically found on the “About Us” page, is not even in the top ten. Visitors care about the benefits of buying your product or service, so make it quick and easy to find and never forget to ask for the sale.
What should you do before building a website? Take care developing your content. Make it visitor focused and search-engine friendly. Next, look for a provider that has the mix of skills required to build a site that draws traffic and generates sales. That means you need a provider that understands not only how to build a web page, but also – at a minimum – the basics of graphic design, marketing and copywriting.
Wolfgang Franke is President and Creative Director of Words At Work Advertising and Marketing. Contact him at 905.940.6610. For more tips on how to get a better return on your advertising dollar visit www.wordsatwork.ca
2600 John Street, Unit 207, Markham, ON L3R 3W3 T: 905.475.5222 F: 905.475.6369
