Before you start - 8 essential website tips

1. Define your website objectives The first consideration is "what are we trying to achieve here?"

Also bear in mind the company’s grand plans and how the website fits in? Consider the success criteria for the website too.

Generally speaking, most corporate website goals can be narrowed down to three things — generating qualified enquiries, transacting online and increasing efficiency.

Building a database of subscribers, posting useful content and encouraging social media participation all serve to attract repeat website visitors & support the primary goals. 

Web design projects become so much smoother once the business objectives can be agreed upon and defined.

Image via Dwonderwall

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2. Ask your customers

If you do nothing else, doing this one thing will reap huge rewards.

Getting customer feedback seems so obvious but too frequently it’s overlooked. It is dangerous to make assumptions about your customers especially when it’s so easy to find out.

Try taking a handful of customers out to lunch, email them a survey, call them up, run a focus group – you will learn so much valuable information it will blow you away! Remember Pareto’s 80/20 rule — ask the 20% of customers that bring in 80% of your revenue. And LISTEN.

[NB. a side note here is always to TEST the feedback you get, after all Henry Ford famously said, “when I asked people what they wanted they said a faster horse.”]

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3. Listen to front line staff

Front line staff know what customers really want...

 

What is the most common question they get asked? What problems attract complaints?

By asking the staff who actually deal with the customers on a daily basis, you'll be able to diagnose many areas where your website can help the situation. Your customers & front-line staff generally hold all the answers, so get them involved!

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4. Do card sorting

If this is a new term to you, card sorting is an activity where you write down on separate cards all the bits of information related to your company's website. Then you get customers to sort those cards into logical categories. And then get them to label those categories.

 

The beauty of this process is that you get to understand how your customers think & it enables you to appreciate how they sort information. This translates to designing a website where customers can actually find the information that they are looking for!

This helps you determine the information architecture - one of the keys to a usable website.

Image via CannedTuna 

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5. Keep an eye on competitors

Reviewing what is happening in your industry both locally and overseas will mean you’ll see what the market leaders are doing and maybe what they're not doing!

Big companies regularly spend tens of thousands of dollars on research, testing & design for their corporate websites. Take notice of what these companies are doing and see what parts you can relate back to your website.

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6. Study your analytics

If you check out your website’s analytics, it will paint you a vivid picture of what pages are most popular, how long people stay on your website, what keywords they are searching, where they bounce and where they're from.

 

If you're not careful the volume of stats can lead to analysis paralysis, so focus on 3-4 key metrics that are relevant to your company.

If your current website doesn’t have analytics on it, get your web designer to install Google Analytics so you can start collecting information on the browsing behaviour of your website visitors.

Image via writetoreply

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7. Ask some experts

And save yourself the costly learning curve!

 

Ask some professional colleagues what has & hasn’t worked well on their websites? Why not even search for some websites you really like and contact that company to see if they’ll have a quick chat to you?

There are also many digital experts who contribute to online communities like Digital Ministry who always provide their contact details. Most experts are flattered to share their experiences with you, if only you ask.

Image via Dwonderwall 

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8. Run a listening lab

This is where you invite some clients in & discover what they really think of your website. Ask them questions & watch them navigate your website.

Can they easily find information? Do they retreat to the Back arrow? Are they frowning or scratching their head? Are they engaged? Listen to what they tell you & observe their reactions. It will be very informative!

If you do all eight of these things, you will learn so much valuable information for business plus you’ll also be able to provide a compelling brief for your web designers!

Web Design Brisbane: For professional website strategy call Bluewire Media on 07 3846 7687.