by, Lesa Seibert, President, Xstreme Media
The most significant mistake that most people/companies make with website design is not having a clear understanding of what the site and each page is supposed to accomplish. For example, an e-commerce site has an objective to sell products while a service oriented company's site should be to acquire e-mail addresses and newsletter subscribers. Every website created should satisfy your business' underlying online objective. Sometimes designers tailor content to do what "everyone else is doing", but alot of times that does not work. Your business is unique, and while some things might be similar in layout or design, the focus of the site has to be about your company and its needs. To get to this point, you need to have a clear idea of what your online objective is and how do you convey that to online visitors.
Once you have decided what your online objective is and what you want to convey to your site visitors, then you have to determine who your audience is and where they come from in order for your website to create conversions. In a recent series I wrote about designing a website, we discussed "how to find your target market", "where to find your target market", "what is your objective once you get them to your site", "what does the visitor expect from your website" along with "what do you want them to leave with" and "why should they return". All of these discussions look at helping you define your objective so when a visitor comes to your site, they will make a conversion in some way - buy a product, sign up for your newsletter, sign up for a seminar, etc.
In this 3-part series, we will look at "Designing for your Audience", "Designing for Sources" and "Designing for Conversion".
The most significant mistake that most people/companies make with website design is not having a clear understanding of what the site and each page is supposed to accomplish. For example, an e-commerce site has an objective to sell products while a service oriented company's site should be to acquire e-mail addresses and newsletter subscribers. Every website created should satisfy your business' underlying online objective. Sometimes designers tailor content to do what "everyone else is doing", but alot of times that does not work. Your business is unique, and while some things might be similar in layout or design, the focus of the site has to be about your company and its needs. To get to this point, you need to have a clear idea of what your online objective is and how do you convey that to online visitors.
Once you have decided what your online objective is and what you want to convey to your site visitors, then you have to determine who your audience is and where they come from in order for your website to create conversions. In a recent series I wrote about designing a website, we discussed "how to find your target market", "where to find your target market", "what is your objective once you get them to your site", "what does the visitor expect from your website" along with "what do you want them to leave with" and "why should they return". All of these discussions look at helping you define your objective so when a visitor comes to your site, they will make a conversion in some way - buy a product, sign up for your newsletter, sign up for a seminar, etc.
In this 3-part series, we will look at "Designing for your Audience", "Designing for Sources" and "Designing for Conversion".
