When you run a business that is primarily online, it’s obvious enough that your website should be utterly fantastic. It is, after all, the face of your company and it will largely be how most of your customers will interact with you. If you an e-commerce store, for example, you’ll want to make sure that the shopping cart software is up to snuff and that the checkout process is easy enough that even grandma can complete the purchase.
For owners of brick-and-mortar stores, however, it is not uncommon to see a website thrown together by an amateur designer over a weekend and then it is completely forgotten about by the business owner. This is not how you should be running your company website. In this day and age, it doesn’t matter if you are just a greasy spoon diner on the corner or a high-end boutique hotel in Manhattan. It is very important to have a well-designed and comprehensive website for both existing and prospective customers.
A lot of people do their research online before completing a purchase or going out for any kind of excursion. Vacation planning is a very big deal and people want to be able to gather as much information as possible before heading out on their trips. If the destination is a fair distance away from home, it may prove to be very expensive calling each location for information. It’s much, much more affordable to do the research online. It’s also cheaper for the company, because you don’t need to hire as many employees to answer the phones.
At the very minimum, your company website should be well-designed, prominently feature your branding, and contain all the pertinent information that a potential customer would want to know. Among the pages that you will want to include are an about page, a contact page, a list of services and products (as well as pricing), map and directions, FAQ, and if it is appropriate for your kind of business, an extensive photo gallery. Pictures and videos are particularly useful for companies that cater to tourists.
Don’t let your company website be an afterthought that goes without updates for months at a time. A good website can mean all the difference.
Robert Ballantyne
June 26, 2008 7:06 pm
I am amazed at the sites I visit where I cannot figure out what is being offered. Many times I am looking for software. If I am even a little bit interested, I will want to know, first, if it will work with my operating system, and then I will also want to know exactly what it will cost. If I am not sure that I am interested, I will want to know what it is and what it does. It seems that these are 3 facts that are often well hidden. Sometimes the idea seems to be to tease me with a few facts with the expectation I will leave my identity so they can send me the info I am seeking. Not likely!
At many sites I feel as if I have arrived at a party where everybody knows each other and they all know the jargon. I wander around the site like I crashed the party looking for anything familiar that might give me a clue as to whether or not this service or product can solve my problem.
I think that many of these sites go live to the Internet without anyone doing a simple test with fresh eyes. These folks are so busy using the site to tell their friends (who already know about it) what they want to say that they never think about the browser who may arrive looking for something.
Oh, and another thing. It does not make me feel warm and fuzzy to see a bunch of smiling faces of models on web pages. I know those people don’t work there, and they are just window dressing. If they are real employees, tell me who they are. I might telephone them to get the answers I’m seeking. If they don’t work for you, or you don’t want to reveal their identity, tell them if they want their pretty pics on the Internet to join beautifulpeople.net. Their useless jpegs are just slowing down my browsing.
Anna Jakubowski
June 28, 2008 1:15 pm
Very accurate comment. I completely agree with your observations.