Building an EFFECTIVE Website for your Business

Welcome :: A Quick Guide

 

A simple, jargon-free guide / recipe for creating effective business websites.

 

Effective =
Meets your business & marketing goals
Resulting In High ROI delivers ROI

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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Contents :: A Recipe Approach

 

For 1 Effective Website

+ Key Ingredients

+ Instructions

+ Special Tips

= Ready to Start

Discover & Apply Solid Concepts + Critical Steps

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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Site Goals :: Begin with the End in Mind

  • Effective Site = Meets business & marketing goals → delivers ROI
  • Engaging and satisfying your users IS a business / marketing goal.
    • Of course, assuming you want your business to survive and thrive!
    • But a "great looking site" is not enough for an effective site.
  • There are other broader / strategic goals as well.
    • Such as Awareness, Mind Share, Market Share, Repeat Visits / Purchases.

 

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FIRST, SOME PERSPECTIVE!

As we take this recipe analogy, it is useful to think of 2 aspects:

  • First, let's think about the difference between Chefs and Cooks.
    • Creating new recipes for specific needs/goals vs. following standard recipes.
    • Creativity and New Solutions versus Production and Efficiency.
  • For a food item, how much focus / effort on packaging vs. the food itself?!
    • Do you see how that decision could affect one-time-trials versus repeat purchases?
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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Key Ingredients :: Impact on Achieving Business Goals

  • LOOKS
  • STRUCTURE
  • EASE-OF-USE
  • CONTENT & FUNCTIONALITY
  • KEY MARKETING MESSAGES

More Visible

User Feedback Driven

More Tactical

Usual Focus

Increasing Impact Arrow

More Impact

Analysis + Insight driven

More Strategic

Winners' Focus

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WAIT!

Can you identify which ingredients are the drivers (or should be) and which ones are further downstream in the creation / production process?

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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Instructions 1 :: Apply a smart & sound approach

Go beyond the usual focus on looks (graphic design / visual design)

First clarify your targets & goals to add substance before adding style!

  • Start with business planning and marketing analysis techniques to:
    • Identify and understand your target customer segments and competition
      • A lot of valuable ideas / inputs can be gained from scanning your environment
    • Best delegated to an outsider who can be objective (and blunt if necessary!)
      • Assess strengths & weaknesses - both yours and the competition's
      • Identify market and website opportunities from a fresh perspective
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JUST A SEC!

No really, are you actually doing that?!

When is the last time you took a close look at your competitors' sites - or talked to your customers / users?

Do you see the tremendous value of competitive analysis?

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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Instructions 2 :: Strategy - the Why, What, Where before How!

Using the inputs and insights from Business / Marketing Analysis:

  • Apply marketing strategy and communications techniques to:
    • Clarify and communicate compelling value + benefits for your target customers
      • so that they want to do business with you (and not your competitors!)
    • Define and articulate key marketing messages creatively and effectively
      • About your products and services, range of offerings
      • About your brand (promise) and company (capabilities, credibility)
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CAN'T WE JUST SKIP TO THE "DESIGN"?!

Let's remember the goals / rewards we are pursuing!

  • Do you want a site that just looks slick / cool / pretty?   — OR —
  • Do you want a useful, user-friendly and engaging site that furthers your business goals — AND — looks good as well?
  • Keeping your customers happy  +  providing a good return on your investment?!
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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Instructions 3 :: Structure - the Menu before the Entrees!

Based on the Business & Marketing Analysis / Strategy decisions + guidelines:

  • Apply information architecture (site and data structuring) techniques to:
    • Create a site structure that is appropriate for the scale and scope of your business / site
      • Your site menu / navigation presents this structure to the site users
      • Keep it manageable + understandable for your users — a muti-tiered structure
        with a short list of top-level items / categories with progressive detail in lower levels.
    • The power of good content is amplified by the ease of finding it (aka Findability)
      • Employ various techniques to enable your users to find the content they are seeking
        - Good Site Menu, Search (within the site), Tag Clouds, Recent Posts, What's New
      • Define SEO Strategy (how users will find the site) - yes BEFORE content creation!
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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Instructions 4 :: Now, cook up some well-presented dishes!

content

Utilizing the Site Structure and the Key Marketing Messages developed earlier:

  • Apply marketing communications and content creation techniques to:
    • Create page layouts (wireframes) to effectively present the key messages / ideas
      • Engaging and effective layouts with well marked page, section, paragraph headers
    • Weave the previously defined marketing messages into your content
      • Create high quality content to fit the page layouts (i.e. the right quantity as well!)
      • Text, explanatory / illustrative graphics (diagrams / images), video, animations, audio
      • Appropriate style & tone that are a good match for your business and site goals.
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DID YOU NOTICE?!

Did you notice that we did not (need to) get to the visual design aspects / choices yet?!   (e.g. colors, fonts, icons etc.)

Do you see that the structuring of pages (layouts) and the site (sections/ navigation) can be done without the above?

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Building an EFFECTIVE Business Website

Special Tips :: The 'secret sauce' to help you achieve your Business / Marketing Goals and a high ROI

  • Understanding of Site Design + Marketing Analysis + Business Planning
  • A competent Consultant who can provide fresh perspective + new ideas
  • Drive it from a focus on business & marketing goals and targeted users
  • Utilize sharp skills and solid professionalism for quality outputs
  • Product + Project Management for effective collaboration + results!
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BEFORE GETTING STARTED!

Do you believe in "Work Smart - then Work Hard"?

Want to get the most out of your website investment?

See the value of a marketing strategy driven approach?

No ?

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We can help you  Get started!

From Vision to Design to Launch Contact Us

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