When Web Sites Get Hit, Most Die at the Scene

Unless you are doing your research, you will most likely make some very common and critical errors in web design. One reason is that many web designers themselves are making these errors. Consider the fact that online sales are consistently growing every year, so the Internet is perfectly healthy, yet most web sites are dead before the ambulance arrives. Let's look at what is often getting missed so your web site does not become a fatality.

First, I will quickly cover why these things get missed so you can better understand the dangers on the super highway. It's no secret that there are a lot of web designers. That's mostly good because the Internet needs a lot of them. Here's the danger: It's very easy to become a web designer. With the incredible software available, almost anyone can set up shop as a web designer.

What's more, you don't need either the web designer or the software. There are an abundance of sites you can go to, select a very nice looking template, use their online site building tools, and literally have a web site up in a matter of minutes. Now comes the problem. That method of building a web site misses the mark on nearly everything needed to become successful on the Internet.

While there is a huge market for quick and cheap web design, and someone has to fill that need, your business instincts are very correct in telling you that something is just not right.

The very first thing you have to deal with in your web site design happens in the first 3 to 8 seconds. That is how long you have to capture the attention of your visitor. If you succeed, they will stay. If you fail, they will leave. Hit and run is not illegal here, and the drivers are merciless.

There is an expression that most web designers seem to agree on, "Content is king." How that gets applied to web design is what varies. If you spend very much time reading web site content, you will find a lot of sites that talk to themselves, or place far too much emphasis on talking about themselves. If your web site content does not adequately address the needs of the visitor, and if your content is not compelling, you will crash and burn.

To understand how your content works, you need to know why that visitor is on your site. Every page must anticipate what the content can do to benefit the visitor. It must be purpose driven. Suppose you can save them money. If so, don't focus on your product or service, focus on how it will save them money. This may seem almost too easy, but look around and you will see that good, clear content is rare. Most web sites violate basic marketing principles.

Marketing is another area that gets seriously overlooked in web design. There seems to be two primary reasons for that. First, because a very small percentage of web designers are marketing people. The second one is that many small business owners have the misconception that marketing is more for big business. I don't want to over simplify marketing, but one of the core elements is answering the question, "Why should I buy from you?" Your success is connected to how compelling you can be.

Now if things were not already challenging enough with what I have covered so far, you need to do all this without getting in the way of the customer who is ready to buy. You must provide a quick off ramp for them to buy from you, while those who are not yet convinced can go full speed ahead without getting lost or confused. I am continually amazed by the number of web sites that set up speed bumps for buyers (not good). By the way, you should expect it to take 3 to 7 visits before you get the sale. That means you have to get them to come back.

In order for your web site to reach its potential and keep visitors coming back, you want to think beyond advertising or marketing. Consider how it can strengthen customer relations before and after a sale. A simple way to illustrate this point is that if you were selling crock pots, your web site could have crock pot recipes. You could even get the customers more involved by letting them submit recipes and vote for the best ones.

This would be incomplete without addressing search engines. Most web sites get between 80% and 95% of their traffic from search engines, so this is very important. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the method for a site to get good results with search engines, so it is a hot topic on the Internet. It's also true that there is a lot of bogus information.

Here is a fact that you need to get deeply ingrained into your mind to avoid being scammed with SEO: For almost any search term, there are MILLIONS of competitors. Every single one of them would like to be on page 1, but there are only 10 spots available. Whenever anyone tries to sell quick, cheap, easy, or even guaranteed, hold on to your wallet.

Can you get on the first page of search engine results? Yes, I do this quite frequently. If you are looking into SEO, look at the track record of anyone you are thinking about working with. Also look at long term success. Some of those scams actually work, but only for a short time before the victims end up worse than where they started.

If you're beginning to see that a good web site requires some serious planning, that's exactly right. Poor planning is like a plague that has run rampant across the Internet. Rather than mourn this fact, celebrate the opportunities. Because most web sites are deathly ill, you can do better by taking the time to plan your web site, or work with someone who will take the time to help you plan.

You might be thinking that an effective web site will be expensive or unaffordable. It's true that it will cost more than what the onslaught of cheap web designers charge, but it's worth more. A good web designer can help determine the priorities to build an effective web site within your budget so you can succeed within your means. That attitude also shows they are interested in your success and looking to build a long term relationship.

When Web Sites Get Hit, Most Die at the Scene - To learn more about this author, visit Steve Chittenden's Website.

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