What is the purpose of your website? Really think about this. If you’re like a lot of small businesses, you haven’t really thought about it. You got a website because everyone said you needed a website but you’re not really sure what it does. Better yet, do your customers know what the purpose of your website is? If you’re answering “to provide them with information” or some other nebulous answer, read on.
I was having lunch with a business coach, Tip Quilter, yesterday and we were, among other things, talking about why people have a website. Tip said it best when he explained that everything in business and success comes down to the “what” and we started to relate it to websites. What is the goal of your website? What do you want visitors to your website to do? What should your website accomplish?
Website Goals
You need to have a goal for your website and give it purpose. If you’re website is simply out there to “provide information”, you have a large amount of lost opportunity. Examples of good goals for your website are:
- Get customers to purchase online products from our store
- Drive customers to our contact form to contact us for sales
- Get visitors to download our free report
- Get visitors to sign-up for our newsletter
Measurable Results
Do you notice that each one of those goals provides a measurable result? I can track how many people sign-up for my newsletter to get discounts on services by clicking on my subscribe page compared to the number of visitors. I can also track how many people contact us and how many online sales we get.
How Do I Accomplish my Website Goals?
- Create a clean, light-weight design that doesn’t overwhelm your visitors
- Have a Call to Action – If you’re not going to ask them to sign-up for your newsletter or buy a product, who will?
- Create a visual design that will draw a visitors eyes to what you want them to see
- Design an easy navigation system focused on driving customers to the place you want them to go
Your website should be an extension of your business and should help accomplish the goals of your business. If your website is currently not doing that, you need to invest in a redesign and new online strategy.
Jared Pomranky
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