Planning and building a website is about much more than lining up hosting and technical assistance. There are four interacting factors that affect the success of a website, which should all be acknowledged and addressed in its planning, designing, implementation and ongoing maintenance.

Site
The website itself is just one of four factors and includes all its features and limitations and the people involved in building it, whether it’s an agency designing from scratch or a company providing a DIY kit you customise yourself. This factor also includes all the technical aspects (hosting, security, scripting, platforms, accessibility, etc.) as well as the overall design and the way the design and content work together. The site is the thing, the vehicle that makes possible that all-important communication between your business and the visitor/customer.

You / Your Company
Of major importance is the impression that your website conveys about you. It’s about the branding and company image that infuse the site and allow the visitor to get the right idea about your company’s professionalism, style, values and integrity. This is conveyed through the visual design, but also through the choice and organisation of content: the written text, documents, images, links to other sites, and the reliability of the site to do what it claims to do (i.e., all communication, ordering and payment systems in good order).

Visitor / Your Customer
The most important factor is the visitor, or more specifially the appeal the site makes to the visitor’s needs. These are abstract ideals like values and emotions and also more pragmatic concerns like the way the navigation works and how well the site satisfies the visitor’s expectations. If you have done research about your market, this information should help you target your site to the appropriate visitor.

Context
Context is the final factor, which you have no control over but which you need to be aware of and respond to in order to keep your site relevant. Context is the world in which your site — and your business — exists. This includes the internet itself and how it works, your competition and the way they use their websites, market forces and economic factors and local/national trends.

I want to call your attention to an excellent blog post, 15 Common Mistakes in E-Commerce Design, which describes the most egregious and irritating problems customers frequently find when trying to do online shopping.  These mistakes are easily avoided as long as you know about them.  They are (in summary):

1. A lack of detailed product information
2. Hiding Contact Information
3. A Long or Confusing Checkout Process
4. Requiring an Account to Order
5. An Inadequate Site Search Engine
6. Poor Customer Service Options
7. Tiny Product Images
8. Only One Product Image
9. A Poor Shopping Cart Design
10. Lack of Payment Options
11. Not Including Related Products
12. Confusing Navigation
13. Not Including Shipping Rates
14. Not Including Store Policies
15. Not Putting Focus on the Products

Go read the full post by Cameron Chapman, which includes examples and tips for addressing these mistakes.

1. If we build it, they will come.

New businesses should get excited about the idea of creating a website for the potential that site gives them to reach the world and interact with it, but the misconception many have is that a website automatically means new customers. The biggest disappointment I see with new businesses is the lack of immediate effect their shiny new website has on sales.

It is true that once a site is published on the web, it is available for anyone to visit and most of the major search engines will eventually find you. Even if you make every effort to optimise your site for search engines (to the point of paying for guaranteed high rankings), only those people who are already looking for just your type of products or services with the right combination of search terms will find you. This helps, but it’s not magic. You must actively and consistently advertise your site everywhere you can.

A website is an essential tool for your business that beefs up your sales potential, company image and communications, but it cannot spirit in new customers. It should be an important part of a strategic marketing campaign.

2. We need a website; let’s hire a techie.

That a website is entirely an IT matter is a widespread misconception, existing across sectors and often perpetuated by IT professionals themselves. The world of IT is a largely technical world, consisting of networks, programming, security, bits and bytes and the like. While it is certainly true that the guts of a website are technical (in the same way that the guts of a person are biological) it is false to think that’s the end of the matter.

A website can be a brochure, a shop, a meeting place, a journal, a photo gallery, a work of art, all these things and many more besides. IT techies can help you get the behind-the-scenes mechanics of the site working, but this is only one — hidden — aspect of the whole. You also need expertise in media, writing, graphic arts, communications, marketing, advertising and business strategy to get the balance right.

A good web design firm should have a combination of skills that complement those already in your company, but make sure before you commission them. If you plan to build the site yourself or just make sure you’re going to a web designer with the right preparation, you could greatly benefit from a couple of hours with an internet strategy consultant ahead of time to point you in the right direction and ultimately save you money, time, frustration and lost business.

3. We need a website; let’s hire my nephew.

It should go without saying that just because a teenage (or older) relative is good with computers, you should not hang your business’s reputation for professionalism on his or her shoulders. But it doesn’t go without saying.

A website is your public face: it should appropriately reflect the impression you want the entire world to get about the quality, character and values of your organisation. You’ll only get the finish you deserve if you hire a professional with the relevant skills base. Find a web designer worthy of your company or use a DIY hosting service with good quality templates and features, and be sure you pay close attention to every detail. The same goes for all the content that goes into the site, including photos and graphics, which should be properly optimised for use on the web. Similarly, if you are not good with grammar and spelling, find someone to write or edit written content who is.

You only get one chance to make a good impression, and if the first sight visitors get about your business is an amateurish or sloppy website, they won’t be back.

The only thing more expensive than hiring
a professional is hiring an amateur. Red Adair

4. The more features the website has, the better it will be.

When faced with the decisions to design a new website, it can be tempting to agree to every feature, tool, bell and whistle on offer in the hope of building a richly interactive up-to-the-minute site. But remember that everything that goes into your site needs to have a well-defined business purpose to have the right effect.

In addition, most “extras” mean more work for you: blogs need frequent updating, forums need monitoring and facilitating, guestbooks need culling for spam, etc. Extras that get broken, out of date, overrun with spam or remain unused by visitors reflect badly on the professionalism of your company. All for no good purpose.

Start small with meaningful content and add things carefully as you grow. A simple, elegant website with clear organisation, appropriate content and careful attention to detail will always make a better impression than a messy site stuffed full of pointless features.

Simplicity is … the by-product of
a good idea and modest expectations.
Paul Rand

5. Web designers (or IT techies or my nephew) create websites.

I’ve heard it many times before: “Just build us a nice, professional looking website”, and when I ask what they intend should go on the site, I get a blank stare. A website is just a package – you need to provide things to put in that package that have a real business purpose. In other words, you need to know why you want a site and be prepared to provide stuff to put in it: slogans, logos, advertising copy, product photos and descriptions, company history, news, articles, documents, whatever makes sense for your business.

The more (relevant) ideas, images and content you provide a talented web designer, the better able he or she will be to help you create a really good site that emerges organically from your needs and displays to best advantage the information, services and/or products that your business produces. Without this, at best, you’ll get a competent generic, empty site that you will need to fill after the fact according to its strictures instead of your needs.

You create a website. Your web designer packages it for delivery.

If you’d like personalised advice about your web strategy, why not try my Quick Consultation?