Web Design Information courtesy of EnhanceYourPC.co.uk


What Your Website REALLY Says About You And Why It Matters


Everything you say and do says something about you. This has never been more true than in a text based environment like the Internet. You only have one chance to put across what you want to say. Use it wisely.

Getting a website right does take work and commitment. If you want it to succeed you must spend time to get it right and present the right impression to your potential customers.

During any conversation you can pick up extra clues from tone of voice, the choice of words used, the way it is said, pauses, etc. They provide emotion and meaning over and above the actual words being spoken. The same is true of text and other website content. There are extra clues of emotion and meaning and what you choose to write and how you say it can say a lot about you, your organisation and your priorities. These priorities are often clearly visible to every potential customer that visits your site and can therefore reveal a great deal about you.

It can reveal:

  • your business priorities,

  • how your organisation is structured and run,

  • whether you focus on your customers,

  • how you deal with things,

  • if you are easy to deal with,

  • your attitudes,

  • whether you pay attention to detail

  • if you are trustworthy

  • and more...

So, what is your website really saying about you? Are you sending out a positive and useful 'message' to your potential customers or practically posting a great big sign that says something far less desirable?

How do you know? There are some key things to look for on your website or any other website. Bear in mind also that there could be a combination of one or more of these together:

  • Weak text/sales copy - text that lacks direction and order. If you decide to buy our products, fine. If you dont buy our products, fine. Big sign would read: "We're not really serious about this new web thing"

  • Text heavily focused on you/your products - The message is clear. You are only interested in yourself and therefore your site is too. Big sign would read: "We are great. Customer? Who?"

  • No/wrong website focus - website either not focused on the customers needs or focused on the wrong things. The potential customer doesnt receive a positive and clear message about who you are, how you do business, etc. Big sign would read: "We either dont know or dont care about what our customers want". See also 'Not easy to use'

  • Poor layout - poorly organised webpage/website. No clear sense of order. Lack of clear prioritising and decision making, probably a reflection of the organisation. "We cant identify and meet objectives" See also 'Not easy to use'

  • Not easy to use - difficult to use website and website functions. Often these technical functions have the most sophisticated software known to man to do a particular function like buying a train ticket. Unfortunately they didnt consider how real people actually want to use the website or website functions. Big sign would read: "Oops! We were so busy enjoying doing the great software bit we love, we forgot the user"

  • Too much text - we absolutely love to tell you how great we are/our product is. We'll try and bore you into buying our products with loads of text. Big sign would read: "Just buy our product you fool, we know best"

  • "Brochureware" - existing brochure has been moved online. Token website. Does little for anyone. Looks great doesnt it?... (Not really a question, more a statement). We thought we should get a website because everyone else has one. Big sign would read: "LOOK we've got a website too!"

  • Too much animation/other - extra stuff that doesnt serve any real purpose apart from distraction. We absolutely love flashing things/gadgets/buttons/scrolls/colours/fonts... the more the better. More an experiment than a business. Big sign would read: "Our web designer is great isnt he/she? or i should have been a programmer"

  • Difficult to contact anyone - the online equivalent to an electric fence. Typically employed by big corporations. Theyve gone to great lengths to make sure its very, very difficult to actually email anyone within the organisation. Big sign would read: "We are far too big and rich to speak to 'the little people' who actually buy and use our products. Go away!"

Did you recognise any of these from your virtual travels on the Internet? They are all present to some degree in businesses of all sizes and industries. Does your site have any of them? If so, the message you are sending out to your potential customers is unlikely to help you succeed online. More likely it will have a harmful affect and direct influence on your image and reputation, customer visits and repeat visits, sales and repeat sales, company results, customer goodwill and contact, etc.

Make your site the best it can be. Work at it. Ask for constructive feedback. Make a commitment to getting your website to say the right things about you. It will still be paying you back long after youve done it.

Good luck!

About The Author

Need to get your business online? contact me now to find out how you can do it for less mailto:peter@dynamiq.co.uk You can see more of my articles to help you get results online at www.dynamiq.co.uk/ezine.

peter@dynamiq.co.uk


MORE RESOURCES:

Web Design Company Launches Search Engine Marketing Service
ThomasNet Industrial News Room (press release), NY - 23 hours ago
Web design company based in London, http://www.kronikmedia.co.uk have introduced a new service for companies small or large in UK who are looking to improve ...


Web Design Agency in Nottingham Develops New eCommerce Pacakage
PR Web (press release), WA - Nov 20, 2008
Nottingham, UK (PRWEB) November 20, 2008 -- WebCatch are a young, up and coming Web Design Company based in Nottingham UK. They are making an astounding ...


Law Firm Web Design Company Now Offers A Free 5 Day Course in ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 17 hours ago
The law firm web design company, Lawyer Web Templates, has been offering high quality web building services and templates for years. ...


Franchise Direct's Embedded Videos are Creating a Wealth of New ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 4 hours ago
For an example of the potential of video content for businesses, just take a look at this video podcast from web design franchise Get us Online by Vizzit ...


Web design firm's span reaches from Dnieper to Danbury
Danbury News Times, CT - Nov 18, 2008
... a city in western Ukraine near the country's border with Poland, got the idea to start the firm while working at another Web design outfit in Stamford. ...


Leverage Your Website as a Lifeboat for Surviving the Economic ...
MarketWatch - 21 hours ago
"Unlike other local web design companies that went out of business that year, OneWebHosting combined web-savvy, creativity and cost-efficient services to ...


Denver Interactive Agency Ranks Among The World’s Best in Web ...
PR Web (press release), WA - Nov 17, 2008
... and visual communications, as a winner in the Interactive Annual 14, the magazine’s annual competition for excellence and innovation in web design. ...
Amalgamated Pixels Awarded 2008 Davey Award MarketWatch
all 10 news articles


Klue

Also wanted: Web Design Ninja!
Klue, Malaysia - Nov 19, 2008


HTML Fundamentals
mediabistro.com, NY - Nov 20, 2008
David has taught Flash, HTML, and other web design-related topics at Parsons School of Design since early 2000. David is a masterful teacher. ...


OnWheelsInc.com Unveils New Web Design
MarketWatch - Nov 6, 2008
DETROIT, Nov 06, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- OnWheelsInc.com, an automotive site for minority car buyers, enthusiasts and general web surfers alike, ...

Web-Design - Google News

home | site map
© 2007