Designing your website isn’t about what you like. It’s not about what everyone else is doing. You need a website that your visitors will like. Creating a website, your visitors will like, requires knowing your ideal customer.
Your website should also have one primary purpose.
Begin with the end in mind
To have an effective website you need, to start, the end in mind. What do you want your visitors to do? What action do you want your visitors to take? Here’re some examples:
- Joining your email list
- Purchasing a product
- Purchasing a service
- Education via podcasts, video, and articles
- Applying for a job with your company
- Donating to charity
- Joining your cause
- Investing with your company
- Contributing content
Determining the specific action you want your visitors to take will guide the design of your site.
Keep it focused
Strategic design involves making a website highly focused. You don’t want pages and elements that get in the way or distract from the goal of the site. Each page or element needs to have a particular purpose in aiding you toward that goal.
Creating a focused site means leaving out all non-essentials. Extra pages, graphics, words or videos will reduce the effectiveness of your website. Make sure you need an element before you add it to your site.
Pay attention to the words of Gordon Whitson, “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
For example, you may want to create a resources page for your website. However, this page is full of external links that lead the visitor away from your site. If your ultimate goal is to keep the visitor engaged on your site, a resources page might be a distraction.
A simple example of a focused web page is an email list landing page. It has one single goal, get visitors to join your email list. There are no other distractions. Everything is intended to move the visitor to take action and join your list.
How do your visitors feel about you
Your goal is to get your visitor to take action. However, it’s important to think about how your visitor will feel. What impression does your site convey to visitors?
You want your visitors to have a good impression of your site. You want them to leave feeling good about their interaction with your company. To accomplish this don’t overly push them to take action. If you push your visitors too hard, they will leave with a negative impression of your company.
When visitors arrive at your site, they need to understand who you are, what you do, and what your values are. You have less than three seconds to impress your visitor. If they aren’t impressed, they leave.
Everything about your site needs to help visitors understand your who, what and why. When they leave, you want them to know what you stand for. They may come back to see what else you have to say.
An important consideration is what pages to include in your website. You’ll want to plan what pages you need. Take time to also plan your navigation structure. But keep in mind the end goal, what action you want your visitor to take.
Keep your website as simple and focused as you can. The simplicity and focus will help your customers. A clear, targeted website will allow your visitors to determine quickly if you can help them.
Conclusion
Implement these ideas to improve your website’s effectiveness. Everything in life works better if you begin with the end in mind. Start planning today; how you can implement these ideas into your website.
Photo credit: Thanks for the photo, Lou Levit. It worked perfectly!