Written by Lesa Seibert | 09 August 2010
Posted in Web Design Tip of the Week

by Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media

Why Should Someone Return to Your Site?

Last week in Part V we looked at what you want your website visitors to leave with.  This week, in our last installment, we are going to look at why should a visitor return to your website.

Is there a good reason that a visitor should bookmark your website so that they can return again?  If the answer is no, then what do you need to change on your site that will encourage repeat visits? 

Whatever objectives and reasons you had for creating a website for your company are not important if you are not driving visitors back to your site.  If your only reason to spend the money and time to develop a website was to keep your competition up to speed on what you are doing and how your market, or don't market, your business, then you have wasted a lot of time and money.

So ask yourself, "Why should someone return to our site?"  In doing so you are forcing yourself to take a hard look at your website initiative and the justification for the investment.  Developing loyalty from your customers through online activities will be seen in your offline revenues and profits.  Providing relevant information, making it easier for your customer to do his or her job, having the latest and most popular products available, are some basic tactics that will encourage people to return to your website. 

Do you add a blog?  What about a discussion forum where people can ask questions and get informed responses?  How about company news?   Determining what is of value to your target audience will be the basis of your online presence. 

Written by Lesa Seibert | 02 August 2010

by, Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media

What Do You Want Your Visitors to Leave With?

Last week in Part IV, we looked at what a visitor should expect from your website.  We covered ease of use and applicable content.  This week we explore what do you want your visitor to leave with.

Once you understand what your site visitors expect from your website, then you need to determine what it is that you want the visitor to leave with after visiting your website.  Are you attempting to reduce the sales cycle time and ensuring that they leave with a purchase?  Are you looking to improve your brand and are successful when they leave going that was great information, I am going to call them to do something for me or my company?  Are you wanting them to directly connect with you and they leave with having filled out a service request or a quote request form?  Depending on your goals, you will want to develop different strategies for different goals.

You have to ask youself what it is that you want your visitors to leave with or to do before they leave.  Then you must consider if you can address those needs with your current website or its current design.  Most likely you will want to provide rich, informative content that helps satisfy a customer's questions coupleed with a design that allows the end user to find the information they are seeking quickly and easily. 

If your site is poorly designed or does not have informative content, your visitor will leave without having found what they are looking for and in most cases, will never return.  A website is like a brick and mortar store, in that you get one chance to impress the visitor.  If they come in and find things in disarray, dust, cobwebs, nothing that they were looking for they won't be back.  On the other hand, if they come in and find exactly what they want in a clean, functional environment, you have a new customer.  How does your web site stack up?  Is is clean and functional or dusty and outdated?

Next week is the final installment in our series and we will look at answering the question, "Why should someone return to your site?

Written by Lesa Seibert | 27 July 2010
Posted in Web Design Tip of the Week

by, Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media

What Does a Visitor Expect From Your Website?

In Part III of our series we looked at what are the objectives of your website when visitors arrive.  Is your site planned out or just a hodgepodge of random items?

This week we are going to look at what a visitor should expect from your website.  In Part I of our series we discussed understanding your target audience, which should help you determine what your visitors expect when they arrive at your site.  This is the main goal of your site - have the information, products or services that your visitor is coming to your site for displayed in a manner which is easily accessible and understandable to the visitor.

First is ease of use.  Nothing will lose a visitor faster than a website that is hard to navigate.  If they have to spend more than 10-12 seconds looking for what they came there for you have lost them.  They will get frustrated and leave.  Have you ever been to those sites that have so much going on it makes you dizzy trying to absorb it all?  Make what you offer, services or products, clearly evident to your visitor on your home page.  From there they should only have to make one (1) click to get to the specific information they are looking for.  Are links to sub pages buried on secondary pages?  Can your visitor get to any page on your site from the home page?  Also, review the download time for your site.  The average internet user will wait no more than 8 seconds before jumping to antoher page or stopping the page from opening all together if it is too slow.  An opportunity lost.

Second is applicable content.  Does your site really tell people what you do or what your products are in a short, concise manner?  Have you ever read your own website like a visitor would?  If you are using a internet or traditional marketing campaign that drives people to your site, build a landing page that will give them the information that they were promised in your campaign.  Sometimes taking them to your home page, if it is not well constructed and very evident to the visitor where they need to go, can lose the visitor.  They get to your home page that says nothing about the ad that drove them there, so they will get frustrated and leave.

In Part V of our six part series, we will look at what do you want your visitor to leave with.

Written by Lesa Seibert | 22 July 2010
Posted in Web Design Tip of the Week

by, Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media

Last week we looked at where to find your target customer/client online.  As we noted, tt takes some research, but once that is done you will know where your target market lives online and will be able to interact with them where they are, with the goal being to drive them to you and your website.

So, now you have found your client and directed them to your website.  What is their objective once they get there?  Will they buy something, learn more about your business, email you for more information, request a quote, etc.

It is quite obvious, hopefully, to businesses in 2010 as to why they need a website.  For some companies it is more about wanting to keep up with the Jones' than about what type of message they are sending with their site.  They don't want people to think they can't do something that their competitor can.  What a plan.  If this is your reasoning for having a website or adding e-commerce, then you need to step back and look at that a website could offer to your current or potential customers that is of true value and not how "flashy" it is.

Your online presence should compliment or enhance your offline presence.  We have had several clients come to us over the years and want a website just because everyone else has one.  They had not plan as to what they wanted it to do, convey, do - they just knew they had to have one.  They did not realize that yes, they would fall behind without one, but without a planned one, they could do more harm than not having one at all.

One of the basic reasons for having an online presence is it serves as a tool for communicating with your current and potential customers in a convenient, cost-effective manner.  Cost-effective in the sense that the Internet has allowed, small, budget strapped companies the opportunity to look bigger than they really are - opening the door to an expanded marketplace.  A small business is no longer restricted by their location to go after new customers.  With an online presence that provides targeted information to your visitors, you can connect with current and potential customers in a way that would have been very cost-prohibitive using traditional marketing tools.

Your website should remain customer-focused.  It should give the visitor access to information about your company that would help them to make an educated decision about whether they want to do business with you.  It also serves as a tool for you to capture information about those visitors to build customer profiles in an effort to offer more targeted information.

So now you have them there, what should they expect?  In our next installment, we will look at what a visitor should expect from your website once you get them there.

Written by Lesa Seibert | 06 July 2010
Posted in Web Design Tip of the Week

by Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media

Last week we discussed how to define your target market.  You defined:

• What age group do they fit in?
• What gender are they?
• Are they college graduates?
• What is their income level?
• What is their main job?
• Do they read blogs, discussion forums, use facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, etc.

Today, we will discuss where to find that target market online.   To a certain degree, your audience finds you. When you started out you had a business plan with specific targets and assumed behavior responses. After 6 months you found a different segment all together were engaging with your site. Looking at your traffic and analytics/metrics for any product will give you volumes of data on your product. You can do this via, Web forms, surveys,etc....You may have a great product, but if your delivery or assumptions are wrong you could be pitching to a black hole. Engage with your prospects or clients often. Talking to buyers and non buyers will give you more than one A-HA moment.

Do your potential customers/clients frequent facebook?  Do searches on facebook for target keywords that best represent your company and/or product.  Look that the ones that have lots of "friends" or "likes" and see what they are posting and who their friends are.  If you see potential customers there, then it would benefit you to have a facebook fan page for your business.  Invite all your friends, friends of those similar fan pages, etc. and only post information that is informative to your friends.  DO NOT SPAM.  It's not about you but about how they perceive you.

Do your potential customer/clients frequent discussion forums?  Do a google search and find discussion forums and blogs that are in a same or similar market as you.  Review the questions posted and if appropriate, make a post using your web site link in your signature.

Businesses that know where their target market is are able to much better serve their clients/customers and prospects with precisely targeted information and advertisement creating value in their marketing efforts and bolstering their brand as a “Gold Standard” in the online marketplace. To market any other way online relegates businesses to the masses of spam who eventually fade away as more and more online businesses “get it right” and tailor their efforts to precisely meet the needs of their target market.

It takes some research, but once that is done you will know where your target market lives online and will be able to interact with them where they are, with the goal being to drive them to you and your website.

Part III will discuss your website - what are it's objectives and is it ready for your target market.