You have a Web site with bright red text on a bright green background that just jumps right out and slaps your potential customers in their potential faces. You’ve got text blinking like strobe lights. Whatever text isn’t flashing wildly is in images that take three minutes to load. Your 15-year-old brother Jimmy, who learned how to create Web sites about two weeks ago, of course, designed this.
What on earth were you thinking?
Your Internet presence can make or break your company. Plan wisely and spend intelligently, and your site can turn thousands into millions, both in dollars and customers. Do it wrong, though, and you can actually drive existing customers away. Here are three simple ideas to help you start down the road to a successful Web presence.
Idea One: Paint a pretty picture
Beyond all the gizmos and gadgets you can slap onto your site to make it go “click-ding-whiz,” the first thing any potential customer is going to notice is your site’s appearance. If it doesn’t look professional, you don’t look professional.
Idea Two: Did I make a wrong turn?
Ask a hundred people why they left your site without making a purchase and probably 80 or more will tell you they couldn’t find what they were looking for. Chances are you actually had it somewhere on the site, but your links were so confusing that your customers would need a cryptologist to figure them out.
Idea Three: Fresh Bread
Keep your customers happy – give them something fresh to chew on, and do it at regular intervals. Even if you don’t update every day, people will come back if they can anticipate your changes.
Conclusion:
The Web sells. But it won’t sell on its own. Simply having a Web site isn’t going to be successful if your customers aren’t satisfied with it. Just as you wouldn’t invite a customer into a dirty office, don’t make them look at an ugly, confusing Web site. It may be tough to do, but you might have to fire Jimmy.
*Originally published at LangDesign.com
Rebecca Lang is founder of Lang Design, Inc. an Internet web design and development with an emphasis on marketing website business. Serving businesses nationwide, we are located in Wilmington, Delaware, just south of the Philadelphia Metro area.
