Web Design That Supports Internet Marketing

How cool is your website? is it one of a kind or the same as a million others?

Guess what? Apart from pride issues, none of that stuff really matters. You need to ask instead whether or not your website advances the bottom line of your business.

Absolutely, some business websites need a certain aesthetic due to the nature of their business. And artist's site better look good! And, if you are marketing innovation in some field, then a little innovation on your site might support the sales process. Some sites better look great and be progressive. But don't lose site of the bottom line.



The first trait, which is listed first of all for a reason, is "clarity." Clarity of navigation, clarity of text and graphic, clarity of what to do and how to do it, clarity on how to connect with you if desired. Imagine a person who's never been online before: Could they function on your website?

Contact Capture. Does your website focus on capture of the visitor contact info, at least first name and email, so that you can follow up with them (and sell to them!) in the future? This is a common shortcoming of business websites.

The reason this is so important is because a very low fraction of first time web visitors buy anything. And if they don't buy they often don't come back. But if you can entice them to offer their contact info in exchange for something of value- a discount coupon or some relevant information- then you can build a relationship with them and market to them over and over again.

The reason that the most valuable websites in the world, with conversion rates dramatically higher than typical business websites, is because they all work hard to "bribe" visitors into giving their contact info, and then follow up with them rigorously for future sales.

Google Analytics. While this is an invisible part of the website and works with any design, this free cut and paste code give you some real advantages in your online marketing.

For starters you can see where your site viewers are coming from and how they are getting to your site. This will give you ideas for tweaking your site. You will also see how long people stay on your site and how many pages they visit. If they leave too soon or only visit one page, that's a more than a hint that your content is weak and not compelling enough to get them to stick around. And, If you use PPC (pay per click) promoting to get people to your site, you can add the conversion tracking component to see which keywords are actually bringing you the people who buy or give up their contact information. This allows you to focus in on the keywords, equally with PPC and SEO (search engine optimization) that brings you the best return.

The final web design issue we want to address is the tendancy of businesses to provide extreme amounts of irrelevant information about themselves that does nothing to acquire a customer. These businesses and their websites need to develop a "customer fixation."

This means finding out what your ideal customers want and then giving it to them. The data you get from your analytics and PPC can help, and of course, you can always ask them!

To wrap up, you probably see that these points are not so much about web design as about web content. But because most businesses and a lot web designers are focused on design versus function, we knew we had to start there. And we say all that to say this: Whatever design you have must support rather than hinder the above four qualities of a business website.sales and turning a profit.