How To Build a Better Website

Article by: Brett Krkosska © 2001

Building a better web site begins by giving due respect to an under-recognized commodity:

TIME

When a prospect visits your site they are making a precious investment of time. And believe me... they won't hesitate to reinvest with just a click if your site doesn't deliver on their investment!

Generally, you'll have less than 10 seconds to convince your prospect that they should invest more of their precious time at your site. Keep this word in the forefront as you design your site. Always ask yourself if you are giving your prospect a RETURN on their time.

Think of it this way... You receive your first "sale" from a prospective buyer in the form of time. If you can't make that first sale, you won't have a second chance. Once you have received a payment of time from your prospect, all the content of your pages must be structured for...

GETTING THE LAST CLICK

The last click is where you want your prospect to end up. It is the focus of your site. All the pages of your site must lead towards the ultimate response you want from a visitor. The last click may be the "order" button, a "subscribe now" button, or any other action required to turn the prospect into a customer.

While this may seem fairly obvious, it's really not too hard to get distracted from this basic principle. It's easy to get side-tracked when you design your site from a "seller's perspective." You must put yourself in a mindset that has a "buyer's perspective."

You see, as a seller you are already sold on the product of service you offer, and the natural tendency is to describe solely what your product IS. But buyers need more. Sure they want to know what your product is, but they also want to know what it DOES. Specifically, your prospect is asking...

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

The key to getting sales is making your copy BENEFIT RICH. Tie in the features of your product with the benefits... tell them what it DOES for them. Motivate people to take action!

Here are a few benefits people want:

Make Money
Save Money
Save Time
Reduce Effort
Avoid Risk
Avoid Discomfort
Look Better
Feel Better
Be Popular
As an example, consider an ad for this product...

"Instant Tanning Lotion"

This is a simple product description, but let's add some benefit...

"Get A Fast Tan In Seconds! Easy-to-apply, greaseless formula! Look better and feel better!"

Now let's liven it up a bit more...

"Get An Fast Tan In 60 Seconds... without harmful UV rays! No mess, easy-to-apply formula. Friends will envy your healthy, luxurious complexion! You'll love the way you feel! Visit today and get a FREE sample!!"

Do you see the difference of these value-added benefits? It can mean the difference between having just a visitor and having a customer!

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

Do you know who your customer is? It's important to build your site for a targeted group. Having a clear picture of your customer helps you build a site that is tight and professional looking. By knowing your customer you're able to pinpoint the benefits which will motivate your targeted group to make the last click.Even if you think you know who they are, give some serious thought to the specific characteristics of your target group.

For instance:
Where do they live? What are their hobbies? What's their income level? Where do they shop? What do they read? What sites do they visit?

Make your list as complete as possible. When you know your customer, you will be able to motivate them in ways you may not have considered. So get in your minds eye a picture of your customer and build your site for that group.

For it really is true...
"When you sell to everybody, you sell to nobody."

DON'T FRUSTRATE YOUR VISITORS

You need to make it easy for people to answer their primary questions about your site in under one minute. Keep in mind that it is called surfing. People are in a hurry and will click out on the slightest twinges of frustration with your site.

Here is what they ask:

Who are you?
What is your site about?
What do you have for me?
Why should I stay and browse your site?
Pretty basic stuff right? Yet, many sites miss one or more of these all important questions. Well, guess what happens then? CLICK... they're gone!

And so, therein lies YOUR motivation for designing a better Web site...

Avoiding the discomfort of the dreaded CLICK!

Read more articles by Brett Krkosska
Read marketing articles by Other Authors
Search for New Subjects

Want to use this article? You may freely reproduce this article for use on the internet or for your training materials as long as credit is given to the author and the above author description and contact information (including links or web addresses) are included.