The 360-Degree Ideation SpaceI’m in the market for some good landscaping advice. Why? Because my yard is a jungle of weeds and I need to know how to get rid of them in the environmentally friendly sort of way that’s favorable here in dear Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.
So last night, as I went about my search online (of course) I found myself on a variety of local landscaping companies’ websites. Now there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with their website designs or copy or intentions, but there was still something missing. None of these websites succeeded to do the most important thing—connecting with me (the potential customer) in any meaningful sort of way. So, of course, I went elsewhere in search of savvy weed fighting advice and Mother Earth friendly weed (let’s call them) deterrents.
So what can your small business website take from my story of weed woe?
MarketingProfs.com says it best with their article, Three Things You Need to Know About Web Design, when it suggests designing your site with these questions/points in mind:
Ask yourself first and foremost, “How will your customers will use your site?” Make your site easy to navigate so customers can find the products and information they need. Or bottom line: they will go looking somewhere else.
Think of your site as a crossroads, the by way visitors pass on their way to other social-networking destinations. Develop content that relates to Facebook and Twitter, content that can be spread and shared by social networks across the web. When customers go looking for information, they’re more likely to feel loyal to and purchase products and services later from sites that helped them out for free. Plus, this practice of giving free, useful advice will encourage links back to your site when folks share it across their social networks.
Design your website around your content. After all, an author wouldn’t design a book cover before actually writing the book. However, so many companies do this with their website—designing the visual structure first and pasting the copy in after. It’s backwards! It’s madness!
