The New Media
By: Joe Perraton
Taking your website to the next level
In the past year, many company owners have come to us with a reoccurring scenario that is more than likely harming their businesses. The problem goes something like this: “We've got a website that's 'okay'; we've had it for a few years and we really need to take it to the next level, but we're not sure what to do.” Many times this uncertainty leads to a sort of “web-paralysis” where the website and the customers using it subsequently get ignored. Soon site traffic erodes and with the amount of choice available on the Web, customers simply go somewhere else. Although answering the question, “What to do next?” can be unique to each company, there are some basic rules business owners can follow to ensure their next investment on the Web pays off.
Out with the old, in with the new
Old-generation, static websites are often headed in a well-intended general direction and contain a lot of the necessary content, but that's usually where they're list of assets ends. Not only do most of these sites have a graphic design that makes the company look less than professional, but the lack of focus on customer service could actually be harming the business. These sites typically lack the technical infrastructure to be able to grow and build upon; broken links and images abound, and when it comes to updating older sites, the process is so tedious most companies don't bother, rendering a good portion of the site's content outdated or irrelevant. Generally speaking, sites of this nature have to be tossed out and re-built from the ground up, but luckily a lot of the content can be recycled and put into the new website.
Business owners can save vast amounts of time, money and heartache by having a well-thought-out and professionally-designed website that uses strong, flexible technical architecture. Starting with an architecture that future development can build upon means the time and effort invested today provides a building block for the future.
Sorry, but it's really not “all about you”
Yes, everyone likes to have a say in all aspects of their business operations, but never forget that “experts” are referred to as such for a reason. All too often owners and managers make decisions about their sites based on their personal viewpoints. “My site is easy to navigate, I like the way it looks, it works for me, I don't think my customers use the web” are common “me” statements that can lead to failure online. While it's true that owners and managers add valuable insight into general trends and concepts that will improve the site's overall direction, the essential components of a successful site must focus on the needs, online expectations and business perceptions of the company's customers.
Taking a website to the next level means revolving the site's functionality around making it easier for customers to do business with the company and instilling confidence in potential buyers that the company takes its business seriously. Customers don't care about management's personal view of online ordering; if they expect to be able to order products online and the company doesn't provide that service, they will go to someone who does. This rule is simple: cater to your customers needs and expectations and you'll be successful and remember, nothing happens online or off unless someone buys something.
A powerful and easy-to-use website
One of the most important things to consider when it comes to taking a website to the next level is making sure it's easy to update and maintain. The faster and easier it is for company personnel to update and maintain a site, the more often these tasks will get done and the more traffic the site will get.
There are a lot of options out there for managing a website, but if regular maintenance is so complicated it can only be done by one person, it's probably not a functional arrangement for the company. A good website should include web tools that require minimal staff training and no additional software to learn or buy.
Budget and results
We it comes to getting serious about the Web, everyone always wants to know what they should expect to budget and what they'll get for their investment. An average website for an average sized business is going to run between $3,000 and $5,000. This amount will include a professional, attractive site that business owners can be proud of along with web management tools for easily updating web pages and for managing inventory or content. This amount will also provide a strong foundational architecture to grow upon making future design changes easy and economical. Beyond these fundamentals the sky is the limit for adding more services, content and features.
In the end, the company website should instill confidence in its users, provide customers the services they expect, facilitate the process of doing business with the company and be easy for the company to update and maintain. There probably isn't a single company out there not actively promoting its website on business cards, trucks, advertisements and marketing material; don't let all this effort go to waste. Taking the company website to the next level – and beyond – is easier and has better results than ever thought possible
CPT
In the past year, many company owners have come to us with a reoccurring scenario that is more than likely harming their businesses. The problem goes something like this: “We've got a website that's 'okay'; we've had it for a few years and we really need to take it to the next level, but we're not sure what to do.” Many times this uncertainty leads to a sort of “web-paralysis” where the website and the customers using it subsequently get ignored. Soon site traffic erodes and with the amount of choice available on the Web, customers simply go somewhere else. Although answering the question, “What to do next?” can be unique to each company, there are some basic rules business owners can follow to ensure their next investment on the Web pays off.
Out with the old, in with the new
Old-generation, static websites are often headed in a well-intended general direction and contain a lot of the necessary content, but that's usually where they're list of assets ends. Not only do most of these sites have a graphic design that makes the company look less than professional, but the lack of focus on customer service could actually be harming the business. These sites typically lack the technical infrastructure to be able to grow and build upon; broken links and images abound, and when it comes to updating older sites, the process is so tedious most companies don't bother, rendering a good portion of the site's content outdated or irrelevant. Generally speaking, sites of this nature have to be tossed out and re-built from the ground up, but luckily a lot of the content can be recycled and put into the new website.
Business owners can save vast amounts of time, money and heartache by having a well-thought-out and professionally-designed website that uses strong, flexible technical architecture. Starting with an architecture that future development can build upon means the time and effort invested today provides a building block for the future.
Sorry, but it's really not “all about you”
Yes, everyone likes to have a say in all aspects of their business operations, but never forget that “experts” are referred to as such for a reason. All too often owners and managers make decisions about their sites based on their personal viewpoints. “My site is easy to navigate, I like the way it looks, it works for me, I don't think my customers use the web” are common “me” statements that can lead to failure online. While it's true that owners and managers add valuable insight into general trends and concepts that will improve the site's overall direction, the essential components of a successful site must focus on the needs, online expectations and business perceptions of the company's customers.
Taking a website to the next level means revolving the site's functionality around making it easier for customers to do business with the company and instilling confidence in potential buyers that the company takes its business seriously. Customers don't care about management's personal view of online ordering; if they expect to be able to order products online and the company doesn't provide that service, they will go to someone who does. This rule is simple: cater to your customers needs and expectations and you'll be successful and remember, nothing happens online or off unless someone buys something.
A powerful and easy-to-use website
One of the most important things to consider when it comes to taking a website to the next level is making sure it's easy to update and maintain. The faster and easier it is for company personnel to update and maintain a site, the more often these tasks will get done and the more traffic the site will get.
There are a lot of options out there for managing a website, but if regular maintenance is so complicated it can only be done by one person, it's probably not a functional arrangement for the company. A good website should include web tools that require minimal staff training and no additional software to learn or buy.
Budget and results
We it comes to getting serious about the Web, everyone always wants to know what they should expect to budget and what they'll get for their investment. An average website for an average sized business is going to run between $3,000 and $5,000. This amount will include a professional, attractive site that business owners can be proud of along with web management tools for easily updating web pages and for managing inventory or content. This amount will also provide a strong foundational architecture to grow upon making future design changes easy and economical. Beyond these fundamentals the sky is the limit for adding more services, content and features.
In the end, the company website should instill confidence in its users, provide customers the services they expect, facilitate the process of doing business with the company and be easy for the company to update and maintain. There probably isn't a single company out there not actively promoting its website on business cards, trucks, advertisements and marketing material; don't let all this effort go to waste. Taking the company website to the next level – and beyond – is easier and has better results than ever thought possible
CPT
