We frequently get asked about e-commerce & other business related websites so we've put together a few helpful points based on our experience of what works and what people frequently misunderstand when spending money on a website. The issues aren't complex but they're not always obvious and with so many people out there trying to sell web technology it can be quite a challenge not to spend money on something you don't need.
If there's a question you'd like answered then feel free to leave a comment below.
1. Your website is a part of your business today
Your website should be something that's generates business & not something that either adds no value or holds it back.
With the emergence of web 2.0, the opportunities for the small and medium enterprise to make the web an exceptionally good place to do business are greater than ever but web 2.0 is a separate subject in its own right and you can read more about it here.
2. Your website is for your customers not you
Awareness and trust are the two things that will turn people you've never met into happy, paying customers. Everything on your site must exist to support to one or both of these factors. People must know you exist and trust that you're the person they want to give their business to. Neither are difficult to achieve provided you don't lose sight of who the site is for.
Do watch out for gimmicks that don't assist the user and may well confuse or annoy them. Too many websites have features that please their owners but really don't do anything to help customers decide to make that purchase. If I'm buying clothes, I don't expect my website to start playing music when I click on something. If that happens then the site's done something unexpected which means I'm not sure what other unexpected things may be waiting for me. Trust will have taken a serious knock. This is no criticism of Adobe Flash but a great deal of gimmicks are Flash based. If your designer proposes something in Flash ask yourself if it well help the user decide to buy your product or service. If the answer isn't a very clear yes then consider avoiding it.
3. What are your customers doing ?
The ideal customer will find your site, like the look of it, locate what they're looking for, purchase then leave.
The real customer will achieve the same but by visiting your site - quite possibly not the home page - think 'these guys are interesting' then leave. They'll look at other sites, maybe bookmark the page on your site that interests them (but maybe just remember your website address). They'll email a link to your site to a friend to get their opinion. They'll come back to your site again. If they've bookmarked the page they'll go straight there, if they've remembered your web address they'll be looking for the shortest route back to the page they want. They'll look again then leave again and maybe visit a few more times before deciding to purchase.
The success of your website depends on being able to handle the real customer's needs. The number of websites designed around the ideal customer is staggering.
4. Design
Original design can be expensive so just how unique does your site need to be ? Most website firms are run by design people whose training and instinct is to design you something from scratch but there are a lot of existing websites themes available that can get you up and running quickly and for very little cost.
Which is right for you ? If you're selling a cool or fashionable product to individual members of the public then uniqueness is important. For the rest, it's the quality of the information and the services on that site that will matter, the fact that your site looks similar to a few dozen of the billion or so other sites on the web is not relevant so spend your money on services more than style if you can. Amazon and Google didn't get big by being cool.
5. your website is a part of your business tomorrow
It's an ongoing part of your business & needs to evolve as you do so the people building your site should be seen as long term contributors to your business. It's really important to make sure that:
- you get on with them
- they understand your business
- they have the skills to create versions 2.0 & 3.0 which you'll need as you expand.
If you don't do these things then you'll either be finding new designers and starting from scratch each time your business evolves or your website will start to hold you back.
