What is a web site? And what is it for?
These are two questions the answer to which you would expect to be self-evident: a sales and marketing channel. But viewed purely as adverts for our business, a web site does not, of itself, actually sell anything.
A good web site – and advertisement – needs to do two things: excite expectation in willing buyers and introduce them to you, the willing seller. Later, when the potential buyer delves deeper into your site and comes face to face, so to speak, with a particular product or service, there is an expectation to be met. If this expectation isn't then met, there are no sales – just disappointment for everyone.
First contact with potential buyers usually occurs on the index page, so making first impressions is important. Just as vital, though, is following through to close the sale and deliver on the promises we make. Naturally, buyers have expectations. Sometimes these aren’t always expressed, but as sellers we need to manage these expectations and ultimately deliver - or exceed - what we promise.
What the buyer wants from a web site, advert or any other marketing material is, above all, openness. This is followed by the need to be reassured that the product or service will meet their intended use for that product or service, and its quality. The price is, in many instances, a secondary consideration.
In the end, what defines a good web site or marketing promotion from a mediocre one is that the former convincingly communicates a vital promise.
Related HIE Business link - Develop an e-marketing plan
