Professional Website Do's and Don'ts.Written by Wynn Wilder
Do’s and Don'ts of a Professional WebsiteA professional website is, above all else, professional. What constitutes professional though? This question has been asked by many, and answers are as varied as those asking question. There are at least a hundred or more possible aspects to consider, some consisting of parts of others, such as demographics and content. Each factor has its own affect on how customers perceive a website. Being professional is an attitude portrayed by you, business owner, your business and your website. You don't have luxury of smiling real big, wearing your best suit, and shaking hands with customer. Your site has to do that for you. This brief list of what to do and what not to do when creating a professional website is only beginning, one small step towards success. Do's 1. Know your visitors. Your site should be designed to fit their needs and wants. If you're selling, know demographics of people you're selling to. If you're just providing information, know who you are targeting. Rule of thumb: Know more about your audience than they know about you. 2. Know your product. As strange as that may sound, people know when a site offers products or services that they themselves know little about. If you are letting someone else write content for your site and that someone doesn’t know product, then your customers won't know it either. Anticipate questions from customers and answer them before they are asked. 3. Make your site visually pleasing. Just because bright red and bright blue are your favorite colors doesn't mean that they should be dominant colors in your site. Red and blue are at different ends of spectrum and will give viewers a headache if viewed to long. You want to make viewers feel welcome, comfortable, and that they are able to trust you. 4. Outline concept of site before it is created. Know answers to those golden questions: who, what, when, where, why and how. While these questions apply to your demographics they are also helpful in deciding what information is truly important and what isn't. Pinning down your tacit knowledge is often a challenge, and not all tacit knowledge is valuable. What do you want customers to know and what do customers want to know? 5. Make your prices readily available. Hide your prices and customers will wonder what else you are hiding. Don't wait until after you ask for their credit card information to tell them how much it costs. You don't make sales that way; what you do make is frustrated customers who tell other potential customers to stay away from your site. 6. Keep your site credible. Back up what you say with statistics or links to articles that support your claim. If you have experts in your company, highlight them. Show customer that there are REAL people running business. Update content as often as possible - if updating content isn't possible, add links to news articles and update those links. It is time consuming, but in end it is worth time and effort. 7. Ask for input from people who know nothing about your product/service/business. This is best way to get true feedback. People who know nothing about what you are doing can find smallest error and ask best questions. They can give you a fresh perspective on your site and sometimes your business. They don't know what you know, and they often see what you don't. 8. Use images that portray confidence. You want customer to trust you right? Then show them that you believe enough in yourself and your product that there is no doubt that you are trustworthy. Dress for success. You wouldn't wear snow boots on a hot summer’s day, would you? Then don't let your site wear images that could make you look cheap and untrustworthy. 9. Keep your site translator-friendly. This can sometimes be challenging as we tend to use different terminology than other countries. What we would consider 'normal phrasing' may be considered 'odd' or offensive to someone else. Avoid slang and check your site with a translator. Check to see which words are translated and which ones aren't, then try to figure out why. 10. Be consistent throughout site. Making each page of your site different can be entertaining to teenagers and new internet users, but most of your potential customers aren't new to internet. If a viewer feels as though they're on a different site each time they click a link on your site, they are likely to go to another site. Consistency counts in site design and professionalism, and your customers will expect it.
| | Let's get personal: Putting your personality to work for youWritten by Wynn Wilder
Our personality is who we are, it is unique to us. We know this about ourselves, about our co-workers, clients, and customers. Anyone who has been alive for long has people they enjoy being around, because of their personality. The Internet is cold, impersonal, and seemingly unfriendly at times. What if you could change that and increase sales and sign-ups on your website? Would it be worth it? Being professional doesn't mean being mechanical. You can never write perfect content for your site, but you can write content that makes viewers feel like you are an old friend. Consider this, who do you trust with your questions? An old friend? I know that is who I turn too. If potential customers saw you as an old friend isn't it likely they would also see you as trustworthy? Business websites are written for business, but are you really selling to your competitors? To get people's attention, become a person. If you read credibility guidelines it recommends that you show pictures of employees, your building, or provide individual information on any experts you have within your company. Is that enough though? Take one minute and think about 'personalities' within your company. Who are people everyone flocks too? If you are writing content for your website, invite those people to help you. Project their personality into information. Think of your website as a person who is talking about your business to someone who knows nothing about what you do. Is conversation technical? Probably not. Is it fun, entertaining, and informative? More than likely. What keeps conversation going? Both parties would likely walk a way if conversation was monotone. It is more than likely that speaker is enthusiastic about topic and listener is interested in topic. Is your website enthusiastic? Why is personality Important? Fold your arms, cross your legs, and don't smile while sitting in a room full of people and you'll appear closed off, unwilling to associate with others. You may get asked if you are angry, but it is not likely that someone will approach you to tell latest office joke. How we present ourselves relays vital information to others, a website is that presentation. This does not mean that all websites should be pastel with flowers. While graphics do play a large part in what your website says, ultimately it is content that makes difference. A viewer has made a concious choice to visit your site. They are their under assumption that you have what they are looking for, whether it is information or entertainment. They are there for a reason, but will they stay?
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