Touch Point - Website
There is no shortage of factors to consider when it comes to the development and ongoing management of your small business website. For the purpose of this post, I want to share my thoughts on two topics:
- Calls to Action
- Design vs. Function
Calls to Action
A "call to action" is any activity on your website that requests your customer's and/or prospect's participation or commitment. This could be registering for a newsletter, filling out a form, making a purchase, sending an email, etc.
Calls to action are really important because they provide the opportunity for your website visitors to begin engaging with your brand - this is the first stage of the relationship building process between your small business and potential clients. Some call to action principles:
Icons - make sure that any call to action buttons, links, etc. stand out on the page. Some examples:
Exposure - do your best to make as many of your calls to action accessible on multiple pages. For example, have a newsletter sign up button visible on all of your sub pages, not just the home page.
Value - it's critical to provide something of value to your website visitors. Why would a potential customer give you a permission asset i.e. name, email address, phone number without receiving something of value in return? A good example is newsletters - I have seen so many websites that just have a newsletter signup box..."sign up for our newsletter". No mention of the content and why it might be of value to the person signing up. Take a look at the example that follows - it clearly states what the newsletter is about and the benefits to signing up:
Form Length - when you are offering a demo, no obligation quote, whitepaper, e-book, etc., try to limit the number of information fields that are required to be filled in by the consumer. You don't need to strike gold on your first attempt at mining data. Any form with more that 5 or 6 fields will have a low conversion rate. Whenever possible, start slow and ask for limited information - email address only works best. As long as you continue to offer value in future (permission based) communication, you will continue to have the opportunity to build a relationship with prospects and obtain more information over time.
Design vs. Function
Disclaimer: I am a big "design guy" - I appreciate great design, whether it's graphic or structural, and understand the benefits of aesthetics. Okay, now that I have explained myself to all of the designers I know (and work with), I really need to rant a bit about website design.
In many cases websites designed purely on aesthetics are not very effective. Those flash sites look awesome, but aren't as easy to navigate or as SEO (search engine optimization) friendly as "static" sites. I sat in on a Marketing Sherpa webinar last week - they made some interesting observations regarding online design practices when it comes to type fonts. Here's a couple of excerpts:
"The average person over 40 won’t have an easy time (reading Verdana 10pt fonts) in the real world. Yet it’s still one of the most popular font/size combinations online"
"Oh and by the way, if your type is colored anything but black (and blue for hotlinks) people will have a harder time reading it."
Just like anything - your website should be all about balance...a good mix of common sense, strategy and design. I will leave you with this excellent graphic that really sums things up for me...click on the image to enlarge (Thanks to Robin at Apis Design):
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