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October 2006 Archives
Aside from great products and services, your chief selling tools in the offline world are body language, speaking ability, voice articulation, and eye contact. It’s hard to get all of that across on a two dimensional screen, eh? It’s just not the same as being one-on-one with someone and ending your conversation with a handshake.
So how do you move your offline business into the online world and maintain the personality that you work so hard to build? Here are some ideas to help you choose how much time and money to invest in your website.
The number one consideration, in my humble opinion, is whether your target market is tech savvy, in other words, do they look to the web as a primary source of information when purchasing your services. Chances are good the answer is “yes” - according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project (Feb 2006) over 73% of Americans are internet users, up from 66% in January 2005.
If the answer is “no”, take heart. You can still pull your readers with the consistent use of your url in print materials and when speaking or sending non-digital mail (i.e. with a postage stamp . You should be doing this anyway, regardless of your market demographics.
The next consideration is what style of site you want. When weighing the pros and cons here, remember consistency, consistency, consistency. In other words, you probably already have business cards, brochures and letterhead, right? Your best bet, unless you are dissatisfied with your present branding, is to build a site that is consistent with your offline look. Your website becomes an extension of your office if you have one, or your persona if you don’t.
Consistency in style is one thing, but what about functionality. What do you want your website to do for you? If you need to create “wow” or high end sophistication, you may consider a flash or partial flash style site. If you need to give information only, a static site will probably do. If you need to gather and/or store lots of information, a database driven site may be the answer.If you want to establish a platform as an expert in your field and create dialogue with your readers, a blog style site with article capabilities will suit you well. Blog sites are really popular and easy to use, but if your audience isn’t tech savvy, you will need to become a teacher, too. The stats may have improved by now, but as of July 2005, only 9% of Americans have a good idea of what RSS is and how to sign up to read a blog’s feed (source, Pew Internet and American Life Project, July 2005).
Updating and maintaining your site is also a consideration. I read a great article on this subject by the folks at Vitamin who point out quite well that it doesn’t matter what system you choose for updating, people and how they use the updating tools are what drive this decision. If you are a one man show, ask yourself how am I going to add website maintenance into everything else I am already doing? If you want to become a web expert, that’s one thing, but I would guess continuing to serve your clients is a higher priority. One solution is to outsource by using a virtual assistant, more on this topic coming soon.
No matter what style of site you choose to build, here are some browsing patterns you will want to consider. According to the experts at Crazyegg, there is a science to the art of website browsing. Turns out your audience browses your page in an “F” pattern, scanning down the left side of the page and sweeping across the top third from left to right. Keep this in mind when planning your site content layout.
The average length of visit to most websites is less than thirty seconds unless you give people a reason to stay. What might that be, you ask? The answer my dear reader is content. Without content, the website duration will perish. More later on how to create a content rich site. Just remember it’s all about your reader. The most successful online business owners are givers. This attitude will serve you well. The web is all about access and information. If readers trust your free information, a relationship has been established. The next step is paid information, and you are now in the product business.
The transition from offline to online can be the best thing you ever did. Know your audience. Know your business and what you want to accomplish. Know yourself and be a giver. Best to you!
