Before building your site you should spend some time brainstorming with your colleagues to come up with a list of goals for your website. Ask yourself questions like this:
1) What is the aim of the website?
2) Who is my target market?
3) How do I reach my market?
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular website goals and see how you might achieve them:
Sell Products
This is the goal of many websites – Amazon is obviously one of the most famous eCommerce sites, but there are millions of people out there with websites hawking their wares. If your goal is to sell products then products are what your website should be all about. First of all, you need to think about whether you can actually sell your product online – if you are selling perishable food, for example, then you won’t be able to sell to an international market. And remember that the market is saturated by websites selling easy-to-post items such as games, DVDs and books.
If you have decided to sell your product through your website then you need to make it easy for people to buy. You should have an intuitive shopping basket with a “buy” button beside every item for sale. You also need to have clear descriptions with attractive images.
But that’s not all. As well as encouraging people to buy you need to get yourself right up there in the search engine rankings. If I’m selling bananas, for example, I will need to be on the top page in Google for bananas. Don’t just sell bananas: write articles about bananas, have banana recipes, banana jokes and facts, be the go-to site for bananas.
Generate Business
Maybe you’re a business that isn’t necessarily selling products through your website but you’re using the website to showcase what it is that you do. A photographer, for example, might use a website to display past photography work. In this case, what would that photographer need? A clear structure with designated areas covering different types of photography – wedding, art, sport, music, etc; an image gallery with attractive images; and clear, easily accessible contact details that will enable to potential clients to easily get in touch.
Another example is a business that offers consultancy services. This business needs to have distinctive areas that cover different aspects of their services along with a clear portfolio of clients and recommendations.
Provide Information
Some websites are just there to provide people with information. It may be a recipe website, for example, where someone just wants to provide recipes. Or you may have set up a free website to teach woodwork. These websites can have two aims:
1) Provide information to the public.
2) Generate income through affiliate marketing.
If you are providing information through your website then you want to ensure that it is useful, well written and search engine-optimized. There isn’t much point in deciding to make your own website and then letting it disappear at the bottom of the search engine rankings. If you can get the balance of information and optimized content then you have the potential to make money through affiliate marketing.
Tap into the Online Community
This is becoming more prevalent as people aim to build loyalty around their businesses and their brands. It’s important for your website to integrate well with social media. You might want to enable people who register for your site to have access to exclusive member areas. You will want to include a blog, forums, and encourage commenting as much as possible. If you are planning on building a large community then you will probably need moderation capabilities to ensure that nothing libelous or slanderous is posted on your website.
Those are just a few examples: every website is unique! Think about your goals, both short term and long term, and plan your website to meet them.
