Is your website telling your visitors what they should be doing?

When you set about getting a new website up and running, what are the things you feel you have to consider?

Is it the colour scheme that you want?  Is it the look and feel of the images?  What about the site navigation? That’s important isn’t it?  Your site visitors need to know how to get about your site simply and easily, don’t they?

All the questions above are, absolutely, important questions to answer.  The more examples and ideas you have about how you want your site to look, the easier it will be to get it sorted.

But the one question that gets missed time and time again is “What is the purpose of your website?”

Too many small business owners get carried away with colour charts, logo designs and image searches and forget about the primary objective of the marketing tool they are creating.

Let me give you an example of a classic “brochure-style” website that most small business owners decide to create.  It has a home page with some lovely images and photos.  It has an about page that tells everyone who the business is.  There is also a contact page and a list of services/products as well as a page of testimonials, perhaps.

Someone finds this site from a link they have clicked on because someone has recommended this business to them.  The site looks pretty and well designed. The potential client flits around but then after a minute or two, they leave.  They feel that this business could be what they are looking for – but decides to keep searching.  You just never know if there is someone better.

Phooof! They are gone.

And do you think they will be back? Do you think they have made a note of the telephone number or email address.

No, siree!  This website has been helpful but hasn’t generated a lead for the business.

If this is your website, then you really must panic! Because this is probably happening day after day.  Unless of course you have decided what your website is there to do and you have given it a purpose.