In the first part of this report we discussed the function of your website. Now we will go over the content and best way to communicate your message.

What are you communicating?

Every page of your website has a reason for existence. It has something to communicate. It has a job to do. So what is that job?

If you sell products, can a customer tell from the first page what you sell? If not, you’re already in peril. The main page is for the customer. There should be a clear path to your products or services and immediately recognizable resources that they can explore to learn more about you and your business.

Let’s break all this down into chunks. What elements are important for your website?

Graphics
Your web graphics (if you are using any) are the first things that your visitors notice. Graphics should lend description to the site, not just decoration. A well designed header graphic tells customers a lot about your website.

There are hundreds of awesome free graphic sites, but don’t be too quick to use free graphics on your main page. You want to create an original memory in the mind of your potential customer. Potential clients rarely buy from a site the first time they visit unless they are extremely motivated. But if your site makes an impression on them, they will remember what you offer and go back when they have a need for what you offer.

When remembering your website, chances are they have a very visual memory of what your site looked like – so even if they don’t happen to remember your URL, they’ll scan the search engines for ‘that site’ that they were at before. If your site looks like a hundred other sites, they might not remember you later. So use graphics to make an impression on visitors.

It can be worth the expense to buy an original web set from a graphic artist who will not sell the same graphics to anyone else.

Graphics include photographs of your products.

If you do not own a quality camera, consider borrowing one from a friend or budget in a session with a good photographer. Product images must be crisp and clean and well organized. Take some time to position items attractively for every shot. Later when you’re preparing the images for the web, take the time to crop and size each item appropriately.

Perhaps the most important graphic of all will be your headshot.

If you’re running a business that keeps you in the background, a photograph isn’t crucial, but most times it is very beneficial to have a recent picture of the person they are doing business with. In fact, if you’re positioning yourself as a reliable source of expertise, you’ll probably use your photograph on the main page.

Do take some time with this. Don’t crop your wedding photo and don’t use something so tiny that you can barely be recognized. Select a facial expression that conveys what you want visitors to know about you. IE: You’re friendly, you’re professional; you are a complete goofball. Whatever your purpose is in doing business let it come through in your photo.

Headlines
Headlines are attention grabbing statements that pull a visitor in and encourage them to read the information provided on a website.

There are a few things that headlines should not include:

  • Welcome messages or other greeting messages. (“Welcome to our Website” or “We’re so glad you found us.”)
  • Obvious statements. (“You’ve reached the website of John Doe.”)
  • Dull remarks about Products or Services. (“Check out our big selection!”)

Instead use headlines to engage your visitor in a conversation of sorts. A good headline has been written to speak directly to your target market.

  • It may be posed in the form of a question that they can say yes to. (Would You Like Me To Show You How You Can Save Time With Your…” )
  • It may make a statement that they will agree with. (“Pet Owners Want To Spend More Time Enjoying Their Pets And Less Time Cleaning Up After Them!”)
  • Or it may be something that creates curiosity. (“Nine out of Ten Men Say This Is One Sure Fire Way To Capture And Keep Their Attention”)

Copy
The text on your website is your ‘copy’. Remember, your website is communicating with potential clients and customers in your place so the text on your main page needs to tell them everything that you would have told them yourself if you were meeting them in person for the first time.

It’s not that you want to create an encyclopedia on the first page – but do provide them with a clear way to learn more and find what they need.. There are several ways to do this.

  • Create a ‘First Time Visitor’ page.
  • Create a Frequently Asked Questions database.
  • Offer a Help Desk System with clear directions for internet newcomers and existing customers.
  • Offer a Testimonials page where you archive all of your customer comments.
  • Create pages that describe your services and explain the purchase process.
  • Use an appropriate shopping cart system for products that allows you to organize products into useful and easy to search categories.

Remember, every page has a purpose. As you evaluate the text on each page – first identify the roll of that page.

For instance, the ‘About Me’ page exists to tell your visitors more about you, show them that you are someone that they would like to work with and create a sense of familiarity and trust. With that in mind – you know you need to share more than just your marital status and city of origin. You’ll want to share your personal and professional interests and achievements and include anything else that furthers your potential relationship with clients.

Product and Services Descriptions
This is an area of web copy that is often overlooked by website owners. They rely too much on product images and fail to provide enough information about the product by text.

Look at each product and service that you offer and think of the questions and concerns that visitors may have about them and respond to them. Do not worry about being repetitive – more information is better than less.

Tell potential clients how they will be contacted about services and what kind of support they can expect. Anticipate their concerns and put their fears to rest.

Every time you get another email or telephone question about something a visitor could not find on the website – go and add the information in appropriate sections of the website. Eventually you will have a website that really does completely represent you in your absence.

Navigation
How is your site set up? Is everything centered right down the middle? Does your page run about six feet in height? You might not realize it but whatever you have displayed after the first couple of scrolls will probably never be seen. Do you have a smattering of images here, there and everywhere? It is very hard to know where and what to look for on a site like this. Most visitors will just give up and leave.

This is what you have to keep in mind: You know your website left, right and upside down. So unless you step outside your own perspective, you may assume that everyone else can navigate your site as well as you can. It would be a very good idea to invite someone who has never used your site before to visit and ask them to find the answers to a few common first time visitor questions.

For example:

  • What kind of shipping options do you offer?
  • What is your return policy?
  • Do you offer telephone support?
  • How long have you been in business?
  • Can you help me with __________?

Choosing a Navigational Structure
There are lots of options for navigation on a website. Most commonly you see a navigation list on the left hand side of the website, though you will also see some sites with a horizontal navigation bar across the top of their site. The choice is yours but do choose just one – websites with navigation in more than one spot can be confusing for users.

To decide how to organize your website content, take some time and explore a few competitor’s websites and take note of what you like and do not like about how they have things put together.

If your site is going to grow over time you’ll want to make use of sub-directories (folders) in order to sort the content into easily accessed areas of the site. For example you might have a sub-directory for all of your articles, another for archived newsletters and another for product info. (This is not so much for your visitors as it is useful for you or whoever will be managing the website long term.)

In the next and final part of this report we will go over the ways you can tell if your website is working well or not.