Web Development Articles

Much of my consulting work comprises writing ‘Outside Opinion’ reports on the sites of large companies and organizations. Sometimes I review just a few pages, sometimes fifty or more.

I’m just finishing one up now and have recognized a thread that is common to many of reports.

Here is what I have noticed: On many sites we are too slow to ‘get to the meat’. Too much rambling and introduction on each page.

One of the things I do in each report is create some ‘copywriter layouts’ of key site pages. I do my critique, and then provide some sample page designs to give the client an idea of how I see each page; the key messages, the key actions etc.

But here’s the thing: I create just the first screen, not the whole page.

And within that first screen I make sure that everything that NEEDS to be said is said. I make sure the key messages are prominent. And I include one or more directions or calls-to-action.

You’ve put up a website to promote a product or service.

You’ve spent piles of cash to generate traffic.

But sales are not coming in.

So, you’re wondering what is wrong?

Here are 10 website sales secret reasons why they are not buying from you:

1. You don’t make people feel safe when they order. Remind people that they are ordering through a secure server. Tell them you won’t sell their e-mail address and all their information will be kept confidential.

2. You don’t make your ad copy attractive. Your ad lists features instead of benefits. The headline does not attract at your target audience. You don’t list any testimonials or guarantees included in your ad.

3. You don’t remind people to come back and visit. People usually don’t purchase the first time they visit. The more times they visit your site, the greater the chance they will buy. The most effective way is to give them a free subscription to your e-zine.

4. You don’t let people know anything about your business. They will feel more comfortable if they know who they are buying from. Publish a section called “About Us” on your web site. Include your business history, profile of employees, contact information etc.

General rule of thumb is not to sign up for yearly web hosting plans. Instead, get monthly plan where you can unsubscribe from on the second month when you are not happy with the service. That is, if you ended up with an unreliable web hosting company in the first place.

Here is a simple guide that can be easily applied to typical web sites:

–Web Space–

Expect a small website to take up 10 and 100 MB. Considering that you may want to expand your website in the near future, it is advisable to get a web hosting plan with ample web space.

Make sure that you know your needs before you start looking for your web host. Not every web hosting plan can be upgraded or customised. More than often, webmasters do not get the features they need and are not able to customise their web hosting features.

–Monthly Traffic–

Data transfer per month are typically referred to as bandwidth. It is the amount of data transfer that occurs between your website and visitors. A small or medium web site will consume between 1 and 5GB of data transfer per month. Larger, commercial or popular websites often consume more than 5GB of monthly data transfer and sometimes, exceeding 100GB of monthly data transfer.

When your web site sells more than a dozen items, you may face a fierce challenge of helping shoppers find what they are looking for. You’ll need to classify products into categories, but these will serve as obstacles and even deal killers if those categories do not match those in the heads of shoppers.

I’ve seen again and again web sites using classifications that aren’t known or understood by a portion of their customers. For instance, I once wanted to buy T-shirts and went to the site of a famous catalog company, where I found a category called “shirts.” So far, so good. But then I had to choose between a category called “woven” or another called “knitted.” There I got stumped. Are T-shirts woven or knitted? I was not sure.

Another time I was searching for a Toyota car part, ready to buy it, but I could not find it on the Toyota parts web site unless I knew whether it was part of the drive train, an accessory, the exhaust system or something else. I hadn’t a clue. In both these cases, the site wrongly assumed that shoppers understood their jargon, and set that up as a barrier to an online purchase.

• Cost Effective Advertising.
• Online selling.
• Increased geopgraphic range.
• Wider customer base.
• Efficient marketing.
• Improved customer support.
• Succesful market research.
• Customer feedback.

Just a few of the reasons why your business or organisation, however small, can benefit from having a professional web presence.

Your web site can be viewed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by anyone with a connection to the internet, anywhere in the World. With more and more people using the internet as their main method of researching and obtaining goods and services this is a potential market you can’t afford to ignore. In fact, many people obtain nearly all of the goods and services they need almost exclusively from the internet. This means that if you don’t have a web site, you are losing business to those forward thinking companies that do.

You don’t believe in astrology but you check your horoscope in the newspaper just for fun. Me too. But millions of people do believe in astrology and are willing to pay to know the future. This creates an opportunity for you to profit from an astrology web site.

Because the earth and other planets orbit around the Sun in the same plane, the planets appear to move through a belt in the sky called the “zodiac”. The zodiac is divided into twelve parts called “houses”.

Astrologers believe that the angles the planets make to each other and to the Sun and Moon affect our lives. Each house influences specific areas of our lives, such as health, money, career, and relationships.

The part of the zodiac that was rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of a person’s birth is that persons sign. My sign is Virgo. Virgos are hard working and dedicated to duty. They are also self-centered, critical, and lacking sympathy and empathy. Anyone who knows me would probably say that description fits me pretty well.

I often wonder how serious people are when it comes to their websites. I thought that most everyone knew that the phrase “Build it and they will come” no longer applies on the internet but I’m not sure how many people really believe it.

I look at sites everyday as part of my sales strategy and I can’t tell you how many of them violate the obvious elements of good website design and submission.

What even amazes me more is that they can’t figure out why they don’t get sales or visitors.

Do yourself a favor and attempt to apply the following tactics to your site. They won’t cost you a thing except a little time and effort to apply them.

** About Page **

Always include an about page on your site. Don’t be afraid to tell your story and let people know who you are and how you arrived where you are.

Opening yourself up and letting people know who you are adds an element of trust. It exposes your personality, capabilities and knowledge. All factors that let your readers know you are genuine.

** Include all your contact information **

This may not be a popular view, but I think writing a web site is very similar to writing a piece of direct mail. I’m not talking about smash-and-grab fliers. I’m talking about those large mailings with brochures, a four or eight-page letter and a reply card.

And no, I’m not saying that the experience or the approach is identical. There are numerous differences too. But the similarities are significant, and can guide us in how we write for the web.

Here are some similarities:

1. We can guess that our conversion rate will be pretty low. In the area of one to two percent. More, if we do a good job.

2. We have very little control over the sequence in which people will read the information we provide.

With a direct mail piece, people might start with the letter, or the brochure. And who knows where their attention will settle first within either one. You never really know which part of a direct mail brochure people will read first. And the same goes for a web site. (If you have ever sat in on a web site usability test, you know what I mean. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out why people choose particular links or pathways through a site.)

One of the most important parts of establishing a new website is website development and promotion. For people to visit your new site, you have to attract them. After spending so much time drawing up your website, you must also think of ways to make customers want to see and use what you have to offer. Below are suggestions that will help you in efforts in website development and promotion.

Starting your website development and promotion efforts by listing your site with the top search engines is a good first move. High rankings in search engines can send you a significant amount of traffic and business. Submitting your web site to directories isn’t difficult and not very time consuming. Just send information about what your site does, keywords, and what people can find there. The main search engines that you should submit to include Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

Next in your effort for website development and promotion is search engine optimization. The goal in search engine optimization is to develop high rankings when someone looks for a keyword. Use keywords that apply to your website often in the text of your web pages. The web crawlers that search engine companies use to scan the Web pick up on the use of these words and determine how they apply to your site. The more often the keywords are used, the more they apply to a keyword search and thus the higher you ranking in a search.

Revenues are often lost because many business owners don’t see the value in having a website. They claim their products can’t be sold online and technology is overwhelming. The fact is without a web presence they may be losing incredible opportunity. A well-planned, professional website can:

Expand Your Business:

Utilizing the Internet is a cost-effective approach to reaching a large number of people that are interested in your product or service.

The world is your oyster and you can reach your target market anywhere in the world.

Improve Your Image:

Not having a website can make your business look outdated and out of touch with modern technology. It doesn’t pain a picture of success.

When you have a website that reflects the image you need, it will attract potential customers and keep your current customers on top of what you have to offer.

If you’re in business, you have competition. Do your competitors have a websites?

Increase Your Profits:

A website allows you to be in business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Potential customers can learn about you anytime.