What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?

One of the things that I come across all too often is a small business website that has been put up just for the sake of having a site up.  They probably heard that they must have a “presence on the web” and so they get their nephew, who knows a little html, to design a one page site for them and they throw it up.  What the small business is probably not aware of however, is that when someone finds their site and it has no useful information and it appears as if their nephew made it, that visitor will be turned off to the point where they would have been better off not having the site at all.  

The importance of having a website for your small business goes beyond just throwing something up so that you can say you have a website.  You have to define the purpose of your website and build it accordingly.  Defining the purpose of your website will determine the layout and design of your site.

When it comes to a small business website, there could be a number of different things they want to accomplish:

• Sell Products:  If the purpose of your website is to sell products, then your site layout and design is going to reflect that.  The steps that you direct your visitors to take are all going to lead them to the order process.  This would include things like Order Now buttons, an emphasis on your promotional messages (ie. money back guarantees, free trials), your main navigation will naturally lead them through the sales process: educating, pricing, ordering.
• Generate Leads:  If you would like to use your website to generate leads for your business, it will look completely different than a site that is meant to complete the sale.  A lead generation site will be more about the educating and less about the ordering.  The important line that you have to walk with this is giving enough information away to spark interest, but not so much that they don’t feel a need to follow your call to action.  You can generate leads using a straight forward contact form where visitors can ask to be contacted, a free e-book, white paper, or even a forum where users have to register to participate.
• Drive Foot Traffic To Your Brick & Mortar:  A small business that wants to increase visitors to their brick and mortar will neither lead the visitor through a sales process nor tempt them with more information to generate leads.  This kind of site will focus on the small business location, including information about the neighborhood, pictures of the store, an about section that talks about the business and their history in the community, testimonials from regular customers, and a map option that will make it easy for the visitors to find them.

These are just a few goals that you could have for your site and although the influence they will have on your site design will differ, there are also some constants that must be present.  In order for your site to be successful it has to accomplish at least these 3 things:

1. Build trust.  If your site does not look professional, your visitors will not trust you.  If they do not trust you, they will not follow where you will lead whether it is to the order form, the contact page, or your physical location.
2. Highlight a benefit for your visitor.  The visitor needs to see the benefit of doing business with you so make that a priority.  The benefit your small business brings to your customers could be found in your product line, your customer service, your thought leadership, your convenience, or in their wallet.
3. Be easy to use.  It is so important that you make your site easy to use and understand.  You only have a limited amount of time to capture your visitor and keep them browsing your site.  If they cannot find what they are looking for easily they will be gone.  Aim for a site that is self service, not self serving.

By defining your goal or purpose for your website you can avoid a common pitfall of small businesses… having a website just for the sake of having a ”prescence on the web”.  You can do yourself more harm than good with those kinds of sites.  So figure out what you want your site to do for you and design it accordingly. 

Reader Comments

onlinemarketing says...March 24th, 2008

Hi ! Internet marketing is booming and every one has a great opportunity to benefit from this boom by marketing business Successfully on-line. The internet has revolutionized the way marketing is done and brought many different benefits to marketing by distributing information.

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