Every business wants to have a great website, right? Producing a website that 1) is aesthetically pleasing and 2) visitors find useful should be everyone’s goal.
However, it seems that quite a few websites become the victim of a disconnect between what the business wants a website to be and what your audience needs it to be.
The bigger the business, often the more difficult this task becomes. Trying to meet each team members requirements and desires can often derail the best of intentions.
Own The Project
Have a decision maker that is given the authority to take ownership of the project. Take input and recommendations from the team members, listen to the wants and desires of the boss or board, the VP of sales and the customer service rep, and make decisions that stick. Decisions need to be geared towards benefiting your audience.
Benefit Your Audience
Talk to your front line staff. What types of questions are persistent? That’s the information your audience needs to be able to find, and find quickly. Make it easier for them to complete their task. Information to help them needs to be easy to find and easy to understand.
Build With Purpose
Know what you need your website to do. What do you want people to do when they visit your website? Call? Chat with a customer service rep? Request a brochure? Align these goals with the information your audience is seeking.
(Then. Measure. Everything.)
Yes, you want a beautiful website, but if that beautiful website has no purpose other than being pretty, it ends up being pretty useless. Awards mean nothing without conversion. Putting thought into these three things will help guide you towards a more successful website.
Got other ways to build a better website? Tell us in the comments…
Tags: development, Pat Strader, usability, web design