Web Site Design Article

"If you build it, they will come!"
 -- From the Field of Dreams

Here's My Site, Where's My Sales

By Peggie Brown

Build it, They Will Come.......

Building "it" might have worked in the movie, The Field of Dreams , but building a web site is only the beginning, not the end to sales. 

Prior to building your web site, we trust you defined your target audience, ensuring your site speaks to that specific audience.  If not, stop and go no further until this is done.  When your site speaks to the wrong audience, or doesn't speak to any audience, your end goal of marketing your product or service is already defeated.  No, it's not something you can fake and hope it turns out okay, it won't.  On the off chance that you didn't even define a target audience, this must be your first step.  If you don't know why a specific audience needs your product or service, how are they suppose to know?

Reaching For Your Target

Next, determine how your defined market is reached - if your product or service is for teens, you'll want to get out the word on MP3 sites, rock stations, local teen hangouts etc.  Assuming your market targets business professionals, identify what business professionals need and how your product or service answers those needs.  In other words, the product or service defines the market.

Let's narrow this discussion to those selling web design services as an example.  Understand, the same principles work for any product or service, but the specifics change.

Realize that those selling web design services must still tighten their niche definition to those desiring a particular type of web design services.  Are you marketing to an audience with a budget of $100,000 or those with a budget of $10,000?  Does your market demand the latest in innovation, java programming, databases and/or Flash® technology; or do they want simple, eye catching designs with great navigation that clearly defines and sells their product?  Certainly, choosing a target audience that wants something you do not have is a poor business decision and a great way to fail.

A Great Design, The Latest Technology, But No Sales

Most of us know that a great design won't hold most visitors long and certainly won't bring many visitors back.  There are just too many great web site designs available.  Even innovative designs attracting many visitors are failures if all the visitors are web designers taking a quick peek to grab some code, get some ideas or just marvel at the cool innovation if the site is meant to sell design services to large law firms.  With simply a great design, chances are most of your market will never see your designs until your competitor figures out how to market the same type of designs to the audience you failed to reach.  We also know a bad design kills businesses pretty quick because no one gets to the sale of product or service if they can't figure out how to navigate through the site, or if the design merely demonstrates you chose a designer have no design talent. A well designed site won't reveal your client's tight budget.

Establishing Your Expertise

If you don't have a target audience, you won't hold anyone's interest for long. And, if you don't give expertise to your target audience prior to asking them to think of you as an expert, you won't earn expert status with them.

So what's the answer?  Well, first define your audience, build your site content and offer information desired by your target audience.  Next, find ways to establish yourself as an expert in whatever it is that you are an expert.  If you don't have an expertise - get one and don't waste your money and time trying to obtain clients desiring what you don't have to sell.  Paying clients shouldn't have to pay for you to learn.  Learn, then sell, but remember to keep learning if you want your business to grow.

How do you establish yourself? Again, it takes a lot of giving. Prepare newsletters, write for other newsletters, get additional design experience and build your portfolio by doing free or low cost sites for charitable organizations in your community. Write tutorials, prepare free scripts, fonts, programs, or whatever you do to give away.  The old adage "give and you will receive" is true, as long as you give something of value.

Develop a Portfolio

Most people purchase products and services from those who demonstrate up front that they not only have a good product or service to sell, but also that they understand their product or service and will support the same.  

As an example: if you are a web site designer, two sites in your portfolio aren't going to cut it.  You need more.  So if no one wants to hire your because you lack in experience, how are you going to get experience?  A Catch Twenty-Two, but here's a suggestion: work for cut rate prices, work with another designer who will help you build your experience and portfolio while providing services to them or design sites for free to charities that really can use web sites.  Build templates for small businesses that aren't willing to put out much money for a web site and market these templates at very reasonable prices.

When you then sell one of these templates, make sure you work extra long and extra hard to encourage your client to build the best web site possible and to grow their web site as they  learn from you that having a web presence is better than sliced bread.  Work hard at learning how to submit your clients' sites to the search engines so that they obtain excellent results.  Give them more than they expected.

Once again, our example used the web design business, but the same concepts work for just about any business.  The overriding concepts being, do what you need to do to build some creditability.  Organizations in your community can always use your services and you establish not only your willingness to give, but your expertise.

Content Really IS King

One of the best ways I know to market is to give something of value.  Katsuey's Legal Gateway took off like wildfire and continues to enjoy a goodly amount of traffic - why?  Because it answers the need of a targeted audience and it stays focused and true to that audience.  Notice that all the content (and there is tons of content at the site) is totally free.  The site is not a revenue generator, but the site has established KatsueyDesignWorks as an experts in things that do generate revenue, such as speaking engagements, presentations and designing sites for small to medium sized businesses, particularly for law firms and legal organizations.

I spend a lot of time educating my clients how important content is, but just any content won't do. It must be desired content by those to whom you want to sell your product or service.

You are a Professional, Act Like One

Understanding your audience (okay, they've become clients at this point, but the question remains as to whether they will be happy clients) doesn't care about your business problems, how much your business is growing, how busy you are or even that your children are home, smack in the middle of your office with chickenpox.  Well, okay, maybe they'll show a bit of sympathy if your grandmother dies, but even that excuse wears very thin on the sixth time around!  Your clients want you to fulfill your promises that they now see as contractual obligations whether the promises were in writing or not.

When new in the business, I way underestimated my time to get a site up and going and I suffered loses because of it, more than once.  But notice, it was me that suffered, not my client.  Happy customers became the top mission of KatsueyDesignWorks since we recognized that customer service is a lost art and we have the ability to provide unequaled customer service along with excellent designs, great content and expert site layouts. Our clients get everything we promise and then some.  We continue to maintain those relationships, whether the clients send us referrals or not.  However, we vastly improve our chances of great referrals by staying true to our mission and providing professional services.

No doubt about it, referrals are nice, but in most cases, until you are well established in the industry, referrals won't keep you in morning donuts.  Once you become well established, you've already found the answer to success, so referrals become gravy.

Summary

In later articles, we will discuss developing site content and marketing products and services in more detail.  For now, to summarize this article, each retailer has to find their own answer as to who will be their target audience.  The best target audience for one business is not a good audience at all for another.  However, if you don't answer this all important question prior to beginning your site design, content building and marketing efforts, those efforts will fail.

This article is the copyright material of KatsueyDesignWorks© and may not be reprinted without express permission of the author, Peggie Brown

 

If you need a great business web site, KatsueyDesignWorks is the place to start - and end - your search for a web site designer.

We provide:

• Custom Designs
• Custom Graphics
• CSS
• Search Ready
• Great Service
• Economical Prices
• Modern Browser Compliant