Web Design Philosophy
Website Philosophy
We have a unique approach to web design and web marketing for our clients of all industries. Below you will find some of the main premises considered before each and every website we build.
Website Usability
Websites are tools. Hot prospects aren't pining to read your sales jargon. They could care less. Provide something useful or you'll lose them.
Easy navigation is key. If your site is difficult to navigate, nobody will hang around.
Give to get. Don't expect to get anything until you give a little. What you sow is what you reap.
Be real. "The consumer isn't a moron. She's your wife."
Keep with conventions. Sounds a little quirky, but on the web, it's our only hope. Go with the flow.
Website Promotion & Paid Advertising
Website promotion works! People are using the web to find local businesses like yours. Yellow pages are fading fast. The right online advertising will bring you more business for less money than many other ways.
Advertising on the web is cheaper. Advertising online is cheaper by far than print. The efficiency of the web greatly reduces your cost per lead.
Web promotion levels the playing field. You can look like a big company and reach just as many people as a Fortune 500 company.
Web advertising opens new revenue streams. It can change your business model entirely, or impact the one you have.
Web Content Writing
Website writing (web content) is way different. People scan the web, they don't read it. Don't stick things on your website originally intended for print.
Get to the point--fast. Use an inverted pyramid telling first, explaining second. Print writing meanders to the point, web writing is opposite and leaner.
Give information freely. Unique and relevant information on your website attracts search engine crawlers and web traffic.
Write for more than one persona. Some people love to read, others hate it. Figure out the five main types of people who will visit your site. Make room for them.
Write to a person, not a group. Keep it personal and keep it one-on-one.
Keep your content lines short. Use no more than 13 words per line. Long sentences are web taboo and hurt the eyes.
Keep your content fresh and relevant. Try RSS feeds and free content providers to keep your website alive.
Stick to a niche. Don't try to make your website about everything on earth. Break it down. Keep it simple and your results will soar.
Don't be afraid to give away secrets. Surprisingly you will gain business, not lose it. The benefits of openness outweigh the negatives.
Web Sales
Your website can be your top producer. Never underestimate the power of the internet to increase your business. Expect more, get more.
It's better to have a really good salesperson build your site than it is to have a really good techie build your website with no sales background.
The same principals that apply in face-to-face selling also apply when selling your company online: establish rapport; pre-qualify;, sell benefits; pre-close; overcome objections; and use rebuttals; and finally, close the deal.
The soft-sell, relationship building approach works best in one-to-one sales and in online sales.
If your website has been built using the appropriate search engine optimization techniques, the traffic that visits your website will be targeted and easier to capture.
If you give away valuable information and offer up access to valuable resources to others, you will be paid back in loyalty, referrals and future business.
People can tell if you're genuine or not by the way you come across on your website. If you're out for a quick buck, please get off the web.
The more personal you are on your website, the more people will respond to your requests for information. Be real, not fake.
Show your competitor's information. It keeps people on your site, and they can find it out anyway at the click of a button.
Search Engine Optimization
Every aspect of your website should be built to make the most of your search engine optimization potential.
Every business benefits from having their website optimized.
You should get your hands dirty and help your webmaster with the search engine optimization. Your business and website will show it.
The more you know about search optimization, the easier it is for your website to make it to the top of the search engines.
Links are the currency of the web. (LinkingMatters.com). You need links coming in and going out in order to establish credibility with your visitors and show you have nothing to hide.
Your site will bring you business (lots of it) before it is fully search engine optimized. Get ready.
If your website is old-fashioned, contains a heavy Flash intro, or is otherwise unwelcoming or irritating, search engine optimization will do you no good. Even if it "looks good" anyone who spends any time on the web will know that it's dated.
Web Service - Customer
As a web designer, our job is not completed unless our customer is happy with your work.
No matter what the cost, a web developer should go above and beyond to make sure your customer is more than satisfied with the website you design.
It's not about the money you make on the individual website we design; it's about how successful our designs become. If you help people get ahead in life, (thanks Cricket! & Zig Ziglar) the more you'll get what you want.
Integrity is being the same way with your customers before they pay you as you are after they pay you.
