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Free Website Content - Website Sales Purpose
Website Sales Purposes
By Sharon Housley
When designing a website, it is important
that webmasters ask some general questions before they begin
the design process...
What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?
Many companies use websites to establish their
brand. Others use websites as a communication tool. Some
companies see websites as sales vehicles and "billboards".
Still others use their website as an educational tool. And
some may be any combination of the above. The website must
have a purpose in order for it to be effective.
What Is It That You Are Trying To Accomplish
With The Website?
A strong understanding of the website will
allow a webmaster to emphasize the action they want the
website visitor to take on the website. By defining and
understanding the purpose of the website, webmasters and
publishers can better structure the information on the website.
Information can be provided with the appropriate emphasis
and navigation. An ideal website will lead the web visitor
to take the action the webmaster wants.
Who Is Your Audience?
You must identify and understand your target
audience. Understanding your demographic will allow you
to cater content specific to that group.
What Are The Objectives Of The Website?
You also need to determine what the objective
of your website is. What are you attempting to accomplish?
Are you trying to sell something? Are you looking for downloads,
or is sales your real objective? Is your website trying
to promote a specific product or service? Do you want your
visitors to take a specific action? Is the intent to profit
from ad space in general or to have website visitor's click
on specific ads? Are you trying to build a brand? Do you
want visitors to purchase a product, or provide an email
address?
When attempting to solicit a specific action,
there are some general guidelines that you should follow.
Your website should be designed to solicit the action you
desire, so the navigation should intuitively lead the visitor
to take the desired action. If clicking a link is the goal,
then that link should be clearly indicated and prominent
on the page. This will not only help insure that the maximum
number of visitors will be able to adequately view and navigate
your content, but it will also help prompt those visitors
to take the action you wish to have occur.
For example: Many software companies struggle
with the action they wish to solicit from the website visitor.
Software companies and eBook publishers are often guilty
of pushing users to download, at the expense of the actual
sale. Some companies prefer to have users download prior
to making a purchase decision, while others lose impulse
purchasers by only pushing the download rather than the
sale.
In Order To Maximize The Websites Sales
Purpose And Objectives, Follow These Simple Steps...
Address Compatibility Issues
If a website visitor is unable to view the
website's content, they are obviously going to be unable
to complete the desired action. The compatibility issues
could be related to technology or usability. Avoid using
technologies that require the website visitor to download
a plug-in before they can view the website content. If providing
content using flash is important to you, you should also
provide a flash-free version as well. Also, do not alienate
website visitors who might have a disability -- use proper
web construct, provide alt tags for images, and avoid using
a color scheme that will cause confusion.
Define A Clear Navigation Path
A website's navigation should provide the
visitor with a clear path. Information architecture is the
organization and categorization of online content -- the
process of creating clarity and organizing online information
in a purposeful, and logical way. Prioritize and emphasize
the most important items on the website. Give visitors a
clear path to what they are seeking. Each and every page
should intuitively provide them links to additional information
and purchase options.
Minimize Distractions
Minimize choices and other website distractions.
Website visitors should be provided a clear path of action.
Do not provide the website visitor an abundance of choices
-- studies show that a large number of choices often puts
the consumer off. It is generally recommended that you provide
no more than 3 choices. Keep your message concise and on-topic.
Website visitors will often just scan a webpage rather than
reading it, so bulleted lists and headlines might be used
to emphasize your message.
It may sound like a cliche, but it's the little
things that can make the biggest difference. Pay attention
to all aspects of your website. Defining the specific website
objectives and purpose will help to encourage the desired
action or behavior from your website visitors.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll
http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource box
is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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