I learnt the hard way - it’s not about web design
Why didn't someone explain this to me

Everyone seemed to have a website and I wanted one too. No one told me that there are websites that look lovely but make very little money and there are websites which might not look as flashy but generate £000s month in month out to a traditional bricks and mortar business

All this website coding stuff looks so hard to do and I trusted my local designer to deliver what I wanted. In fact he did deliver what I wanted but how was I to know that what I thought I wanted and what was actually needed were very different things.

Allow me to explain my self a little bit. When most people look at a website the first thing they see is the design and the colours. Many web designers were and are very good at the whole design thing.

The problem with this though is that a web site is more than the design and most businesses are sitting on an asset that could be much better utilised to increase profits.

A web site is like salesmanship in a slightly different format.

A web site should ideally;

Attract good customers like a magnet. (Generate Traffic)
Once people land on the web page there needs to be a compelling reason for people to do something. Ideally buy your product or service. (Convert from a looker into a buyer)

The actual mechanics of doing this are not hard to do when you know what’s going on because all you need are the following;

A way to generate traffic. (Drive people to your web pages)

Good writing skills so people know that you deliver a fabulous product or service (Copywriting skills)

A simple mechanism that gives people what they want in the first place. - People who use a search engine like Google are looking for a solution to a problem or information that will lead them to a solution. This is true whether someone needs a service or is looking for a particular product

Designed in a way that reflects your customers what your customers and clients would expect to see

Complimentary report available with more detailed information;

by Steve Prior - 15 March 2009

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