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What Do You Want from Your Website?
by Kristi Stangeland
Web Hosting Articles
Published on this site: November 29th, 2010 - See
more articles from this month
The stares I get when I ask clients this question are almost
humorous. "What do I want?" is the typical reply. "Right. From
your website. What do you want it to do?" A great majority of
people just think they have to have a website. They aren't sure
why. just that "they" say every business has to have one. If you
are gearing up to build a small business website, or if you are a
small business person with a site that isn't performing well,
listen up.
Before you read any further, think of 5 goals you want your new
or existing website to achieve and write them down below:
- ______________________________________________
- ______________________________________________
- ______________________________________________
- ______________________________________________
- ______________________________________________
Increase Number of Clients/Customers:
If you're like most, you probably put "get more customers" as one
of your 5 goals. That's a big one for most companies whether
service-based or ecommerce. But that statement is enormously
broad. How, exactly, do you want your website to go about
delivering more clients? This must be addressed before your web
designer can create your site.
For instance, do you want free traffic to come into your site
through search engines like Google and Bing? Certain things must
be done on your web pages and behind the scenes to cause your
site to rank high with the engines. It isn't an automatic
process.
What should happen once surfers click to your site from the
engines? Should the information prospects are looking for be
delivered automatically? If so, steps must be taken to implement
this process.
Retain Customers:
Is another goal to help reduce customer turnover? (Yes, your
website can actually contribute to client retention.)
Here's an example. Let's say you're part of a local CPA firm. A
good portion of your client base consists of small companies that
don't require a huge amount of attention. Once a quarter you
prepare their tax returns and, at the end of the year, you file
their annual returns. Other than that you don't have much
contact with these clients other than answering occasional
questions.
Those customers probably don't feel all that loyal to your firm.
There's no connection. There's little interaction. While they
may think you do a good job, they would also likely consider
moving to another CPA firm that showed them a bit more personal
attention.
How can a website solve this problem? By automatically
delivering that "personal attention" your clients need.
This might include:
- Updates in policies or tax laws that pertain to small
businesses.
- A note of congratulations on the anniversary of their business
or on their birthday.
- Interesting articles or tidbits of information pertaining to
their specific industry.
All of this can be set up through your website using automated
software. You enter the information once and it continues to
feed only to those people you tell it to, whenever you schedule
it to be sent.
As you can see, your website can be far more than just a pretty
face. Instead of it simply sitting there looking nice, it can
actually work for your company, getting things done in a fast,
reliable manner. It's all a matter of knowing what you want
and/or need it to do.
Kristi Stangeland: Have a website that's not working? Need one that can help your
business grow? Before you build a small business website, get
Kristi's book "Effective Websites for Small Businesses" at
http://www.EffectiveWebsitesForSmallBusinesses.com today.
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