Some Pragmatic Website Design Considerations

by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan

Just as the saying goes in golf, "You drive for show but putt for dough", website design is the same. Either you design for show or design for dough.

Some 96% of the websites out there are designed for show, and they masterfully fulfil this purpose. However, most of them don't make enough money even to renew the domain name after one year.

And all this happens because the wrong people are in charge of the website. Just think about it. Your website is the hub of your business development. It is the interface between your business and the outside world.

Using the word hub, now think of a wheel. You have your tyre, spokes and rim, but which part of the wheel is connected to the axle? Yes, the hub. Without a hub both the rim, spokes and the tyre are just as useful as a fart in a windstorm. The hub connects the engine of the car to the road it can run on.

Your website is your business' 24/7 interface with the outside world.

So, based on this, here we discover some pragmatic design points you can use on your website if you want it to be more than a fancy brochure.

I while ago I interviewed some webdesigners for a client. When I asked them if their masterpieces actually produced money for their employers, 99.9% of them said the same, "My employer doesn't care about that. They just use the website as a fancy, glorified brochure."

From this moronic statement I concluded that either they lie or they work for idiots. Show me one business owner who knowingly spends money on something, and doesn't expect return on that investment. Who can be that retarded besides ex dot com executives and their hare-brained investors?

In my experience many web designers overcomplicate websites, and from their own standpoints it is understandable. Most of them charge hourly rates, so this way they can sell more hours. Just make sure you keep this in mind. Let's say if it takes 20 hours to put together a reasonably good site at $100 per hour. That is a total of $2,000. Then the designer can spend another 80 hours, that is, $8,000 out of your pocket to "improve" the basic site by a mere 10 percent. The question is whether or not it is worth. If you can, work on a flat fee basis with your designer, so you always know where you stand with your investment.

A website should have three key components together:

1. Great design for pleasing the eye
2. Great technology for easy navigation
3. Great content for easy understanding

Look at the sites of many web design firms. They have great design and technology, but missing great content which is the key. I guess it is easy to see why web development firms employ armies of peddlers pounding pavements and cold calling to get their next projects. Their websites couldn't sell bread in a concentration camp.

What you notice first on a website is how fast it loads in. If the loading time is too long, it can irritate viewers, and they may just move on. Look at the websites of highly successful service professionals. They are pretty simple and very informative. Many economic buyers are not technical people and they can get frustrated by overcomplicated websites with slow load-in speed. Forget about the Flash stuff. Many people, including potential clients, still use phone line connections, so keep this in mind.

Then you notice the design itself. That includes the graphics, the colours, how everything is laid out, the size and type of fonts and photos. Together they give you a first impression and a visceral response. Do I like this company or not? If this is a pleasant experience, you will stay on that site and you tend to visit it in the future. A message for anal-retentive folks: This is a gut feeling decision, not an intellectual one. As you cannot intellectualise why you love your spouse, you cannot intellectualise why you like certain websites. And even the most anal-retentive engineers and accountants have gut feelings. Some call it real world experience.

Then comes the content of the site. This is what you say on your site. IS your copy clear, compelling, interesting, educational and inspiring? Also, do you say what everyone else in your industry say, or do you have the balls to come out with a unique message. Have you got the courage to fly in the face of conventional wisdom? Have you got a compelling offer people want to take advantage of? Without that your site may end up as just another "me too" website, and people will have no reason to stay and ever come back and visit your site again.

The problem with most websites is that the landing page is either a page of pompous pontification and self-aggrandisement, "Welcome! You arrived at the best website design company in Canada!"

...or...

...a blatant sleazy slimeballish sales pitch, "Hey my man! Give me an offer and I'll cut you a deal!"

Next is you navigation. How is it set up? Is it simple, so you can get to any page from any page? Next, navigation needs to be simple and intuitive so that no matter where you are in a site you can easily get to the next page. If you confuse or lose your visitors, you'll create a negative experience. And they won't return, let alone do business with you. Make sure you have text links not mentally defective icon links.

What action do you want visitors to take upon visiting your website? There must be one specific action. We can call it the Most Wanted Action (MWA). Your visitors can sign up for your e-Zine, request a FREE Special Report, a FREE audio tape, FREE video tape. I believe it is a mistake to offer free consultation because people may get concerned that you start hammering them like an aggressive used car salesman. Besides free consulting eats up your precious time, and when we consider that at any one time only 3% of your prospects are "Ready to Buy" prospects, free consulting is a huge waste of time and energy.

Website "Pros" and "Cons"

This is a shortlist of what visitors like and dislike about websites. This list is a result of attending several internet seminars with some web gurus and asking lots of people about their preferences.

Some website characters visitors in general like:

• Uniform copy written on "easy-on-the-eyes backgrounds
• Visually pleasing layout and colours
• Easy-to-read copy
• Easy- to-navigate structure
• Valuable, "how to..." information
• Contact information
• Selective graphics that load fast
• Relevant links
• Pages fit the monitor screen's width (no side-scrolling)
• Easy to print pages

Some website characters visitors in general dislike:

• Poorly written confusing content with jargon
• Poor, cluttered colours
• Mysterious icons
• Frames
• Hard to find contact
• Splash landing pages with "Click here to enter" sign
• Graphics overdose
• Flash landing pages and unnecessary animations
• Too many links
• Excessive use of JavaScript
• Sideway scrolling

Keep in mind that you write the site for potential economic buyers who can make decisions as to whether or not to hire you when there is a need. The interesting fact is that most people openly express what they dislike about other businesses' websites, then go and get a website designed for themselves just like the one they hate.

Website designers have lots of fiendish tools to make your site look absolutely earth shattering.

But here are two facts to consider:

1. The web is a marketing tool.
2. Most website developers are either artists or technicians, not marketers.

This is just like surgery. The patient may only need some pills, but from the medical standpoint it is much more exciting to cut the body open and fiddle around with all the internal bits and bobs. This may sound a bit morbid, but as a former embalmer and gravedigger I have seen and heard a few interesting things regarding so-called "healthcare." I wheeled a pretty number of patients from the operating theatres into the morgue after failed experiments.

Economic buyers who are reading your site have three letters ingrained in their heads: ROI (Return on Investment). It means your site has to speak fluent "ROI English" with a great emotional twist on your language. Remember, facts make people think, emotions make them act.

And who should do it all? Just as surgeons don't operate on their family members, lawyers do not represent their family members and smart CEOs do not conduct their own strategic planning sessions, business owners should always hire an objective outsider to design their websites. The objective view is valuable beyond comprehension. Due the emotional attachment, you simply cannot see your site from the same perspective as your visitors. And if your web programmer or graphics artist tries to influence you be careful. Make sure a marketer heads your web design project. Let these words be your guiding light for your website: Keep it simple, clean and informative.

Now Let's Talk about Copy...

The headline is the key. Look at your website as an ad. The headline is the ad for the ad. If it draws attention that is great. If not, then keep testing. Note that your company name or similar rubbish is not a headline.

State the problem your business solves clearly. Most marketing materials start by stating solutions. Look, until you make me realise that I have a problem in the first place, I don't really care about solutions. You may have a great solution to slow down the reproduction process of mosquitoes in Middle Wallop (there is a nice pub there), but Middle Wallop is in South East England and I am in Canada.

For example I teach service professionals how to set their fees based on perceived value as opposed to number of hours dispensed. Great but nobody cares. People can clearly see how they could double or triple their fees almost overnight by charging for value as opposed to for their time, but most of them don't want it. The main reason is because it is non-traditional, and let's face it, most businesspeople are not exactly risk-immune initiators. They tend to follow the herd. They say that if it were so good, everyone would do it.

Perhaps...

Until I educate my prospects that by setting time-based Per Diem fees they leave a huge pile of money on the negotiation table and the only way to earn more for them is by working more hours. Hello!!! Are we becoming workaholics or what?

So when I show them that Per Diem fees are financially limiting to them and unethical to clients, it is easier for them to fathom the concept. But first I have to show them that they have a problem. In this case both a financial and an ethical problem.

We think in terms problems, not solutions. So before you mention your solutions, you have to mention problems first, so your visitors can say to themselves: "Holy mother of all sausages, that's me. Tell me more."

Next you can toss up some scenarios as long-term implications. Prospects have to see what can happen if they do not take preventive action and how expensive can be to wait for contingency action. You can repeat your "problem statement " anywhere and everywhere in your written materials.

Opening page - Start your site with a summary of the problem your target market experiences. Example: "Despite extremely low margins in the computer industry, some companies are succeeding in generating innovative high-margin services. How do they do it?"

Services page - Instead of listing all the services you offer, preamble your solutions with a problem statement. Example: When you tie your fees to a finite entity, such as time, you will create limited revenue for your company and limited income for yourself. Value-based fees can remove this insidious limitation. You get paid what you are truly worth, that in turn will also give you higher self-esteem, higher level confidence about your expertise and overall sense of accomplishment.

Clients page - Explains what sort of problems your clients had had before they hired you. Or just give a thorough list of the problems your typical clients face.

Case studies page - Always start with problems. "Before hiring us, the Cringingnut Coffin carving Corporation had this problem..." And then explain what you did to alleviate the problem to improve the client's condition. Quantify your statements wherever you can. State ROI of possible. It has great impact. Include qualitative improvement as well.

Contact page - Again, list the typical problems you solve and give your contact details. "If you are tired of working long hours and losing money caused by setting time-based fees contact us..."

Articles page - Start your articles with a problem statement and use it as a theme for the whole article. Then revisit it a few more times even while talking about the solution. So your readers are reminded that the problem you have stated is a real problem.

Take a look through your website and check all of your messages. Do they start with problem statements? Do you open your case with solutions and processes? Make sure you preamble each and every solution statement with a problem statement. People want to know their problems intellectually and feel it emotionally before their egos accept the fact: I have created this problem and I don't know how to change it for the better. This is not about "creating pain", which I believe is rubbish. This is about making people see and realise what's actually there and what it can be.

So, start scrutinising your website and make sure you gradually turn it into a marketing and sales tool, not just a fancy brochure.

And remember! Don't sell harder. Market smarter. Both you, your employees, your clients and prospects will find it more enjoyable, profitable and attractive.

FREE Strategic Guide To Online Business Development...

Subscribe to my free B2B business development e-zine, and also receive a free copy of my...

Follow this link to request your copy of my FREE Executive's Guide to B2B Online Business Development.