What Are My Website Needs?
By Edward Fong
Believe it or not, not knowing what you need in your website is a more common problem than most would like to admit. But there is a very good explanation for your brief “ignorance” which we will solve for you really quickly.
Web development has come a long way in progression since 25 years ago when I learned how to write my first website. It’s kind of like shopping for cold medication. You got 1,000’s of options to choose from so crazy that you kind of have to be a researcher to find out which one to pick.
With the advances in smart phones and tablets, websites are not only configured for your normal home computers or laptops but they have to be simultaneously written to adjust to whatever device you’re using.
Most people who got their websites done 10 years ago don’t even realize that their website is ancient and doesn’t read well across all of the other new devices and platforms. This updated way of websites displaying on multiple devices is known as responsive websites. Thus it responds to whatever device you’re using and displays appropriately to your device.
Why this is crucial is that most people today are searching on the internet for your business but they’re searching on their smart phones or tablets. Just as the saying goes, “First impressions make all the difference to a lasting relationship” so it goes for your business. Although it shouldn’t matter what your website looks like and shouldn’t represent the expertise and excellence you provide in your product, today it’s a matter of making or breaking the deal.
A website today reflects on your company more than ever. It tells your potential customer whether or not you are current and up to date or still in the stone ages. Even though you and I know this is not true, perception is everything.
But no worries. What we do is educate and help you not stick out like a sore thumb and get you updated and current with today’s technological advances. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 100 year old company, you don’t have to change your product but you do however have to change the packaging of your product to match the current times. Your website is no different.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Although technology can be your greatest advantage over your competition, technology not properly executed can be your greatest downfall which is a big problem in the web development industry.
As a web developer, it’s very easy to get excited about all of the new bells and whistles you can do with websites from cool parallax effects when you scroll down on your page and the background photo moves in the opposite direction or your menu bar does some crazy effect when clicked. But coming from a business owner’s perspective, you have to know how to pull yourself out of the mind of a developer into the mind of the clients experience. Connecting the bridge between the two is where most web developer fail.
Let me explain. If you’re going to invest in an extravagant website to suitably represent you and accomplish a specific purpose or purposes for your business needs you would expect that the effects or functions of your website do what you paid for it to do. Imagine purchasing a Dodge Challenger Hellcat that had all of the parts with all of the bells and whistles to be the fastest muscle car in the world but for some odd reason, whoever put the car together put all of the pieces under the hood in the wrong place. It looks and feels like a Dodge Hellcat but because the parts are all in the wrong place the car will not even take you out of your garage into the driveway. The same concept goes for your website. The bells and whistles have to be in the right place working for your business purpose and not against.
So what is it that you want to accomplish and have your website do for you? Here are some ideas and examples of what business owners like your self need in their website:
Furniture Store Owner
- Create an website that has the capability to capture a potential client’s contact information like name, email and phone number.
- Provide clients with a fun email newsletter that has related and non-related to your business content to capture audience readership that both entertains and educates them on your products, you as a business owner and other pertinent information to market to them on a regular basis.
- An online store where clients can order and pay for their items.
- Connect your website to automate creation of invoices and billing as well as take payments that eliminates a lot of the work that you would normally have to do manually.
Doctor – Specialist In Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement
- A website that captures client information by having a landing page offering a FREE e-book on “10 Ways Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Can Make You Look and Feel 20 Years Younger” where reader has to opt-in and provide their contact information to get the free material.
- Allow potential clients to create a login to access certain areas of a website that could be paid or not leading to the sales of products that you offer.
- Create a clean and interactive pages that provide information to different services and packages offered.
- Be able to book and pay for appointments or sign up and pay for programs that your clinic offers securely.
- Be able to click social media share buttons for clients to share you with their friends and family.
Artist/Writers
- A website that is member based where followers can sign up for an account to access your website. You’ll have full control of your members that have opted to the memberships that you offer on your site.
- Online store where your clients can purchase your artwork or books as well as request work to be done if you offer it.
- Create different articles and newsletters about your work, different topics, or even tidbits about your own life events – a perfect way to connect with your followers.
- Manage accounting, invoices, and payments online that can be imported into your accounting software you may be using.
Auto Sales
- Online inventory of vehicles you offer where clients are able to search and even purchase online.
- Online qualifying for loans to make vehicle purchases.
- Set appointments online that connects with your appointment scheduler at the office.
- News and articles on new vehicles, purchasing a vehicle, maintenance tips, etc…
- Leads page that captures contact information so that you can market to future potential buyers.
What you can do with websites today is phenomenal. One of the greatest advantages of having an online presence is that you are not limited to your local place of business. You can sell anything, anywhere in the world at anytime of the day regardless of you being awake or present.
You may be selling crafts to friends or you may have an already existing business. If either are you, don’t be like most that are leaving tons of money not the table. Sell your products or services online. If you have a business already find something that you can sell online if your current product can’t be sold online. I ran a Hawaiian catering company in Tucson, AZ for over 10 years and we sold DIY Hawaiian Catering Kits online and has a nice additional extra income along with the income we made form catering.
Two last things on online websites, 1st unlike your place of business where you’re limited to physical location, the internet lifts limitations where you are literally able to sell what you offer almost any where in the world that has internet access and a delivery service means.
Secondly, having your own website is unlike selling your product on etsy or some other online venue that sells products. You have full control over what is on your website. And your not limited to any terms like you may have with other companies.
So if you’re ready to take your business idea/concept or current business to the Next Level don’t put it off another day. Call me today, Ed at 520-392-5923 , email me at nextlevelwebdevelopers@gmail.com, or go to our Get In Touch page and let us know what you want in your webpage and we would be glad to help build or redevelop your site. Talk to you soon!
Aloha,
Ed