What’s the difference between a good looking sales person and a good looking website?

Nothing really, because looks count for little when a customers is deciding whether or not they’ll buy from you. Marketing isn’t a beauty contest, it’s a contest to win the hearts and minds of customers.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying a good looking website isn’t important, because it is. After all, good looking people find it easy to get people’s attention and a good looking websites the same; it can buy you a few seconds of interest, but after that if the message on your page doesn’t grab them, if it doesn’t offer something interesting, intelligent or meaningful, people loose interest fast… after all, the promise of finding exactly what they’re looking for somewhere else could be just 1 click away…

So here’s a big mistake I commonly see made.

Businesses getting carried away with flash animations on their website.

For those who don’t know what flash is, it’s a programming language used to make moving picture animations. Some people build their entire website in flash because they think it looks impressive.

This is a big mistake for a number of reasons, one being that search engines relate to websites via text, not images. Flash websites are a liability in search engines. Also flash does not work website when viewed from an iPhone or iPad.

I’d back myself to build an simple 1 page website that would out perform any flash website any day, and by outperform I mean out rank them (in the search engines) and out sell them in a direct mine v’s theirs split test!

Why? Two reasons:

1. Because when it comes to online sales, substance beats looks every time. Nothing outsells a well crafted sales message.
2. The money you save on the flash design costs can be spent on traffic generation strategies that get hot prospects in front of your well crafted sales message.

So just what makes a website sell?

Your message! The benefits of what you do and what those benefits mean to people and their life.

Let’s take a simple example, cheap prices and the money you’ll save.

A lot of consumer products are sold online because people are buying “the lowest price.” As consumer products are standardized, people can easily compare apples to apples, same brand, same model, same same, so why pay more? In that case the cheap price is the message, the issue of substance, “the” thing they are looking for, the thing that gets the sale.

But cheap price isn’t always what people buy online.

If you sell any complex product or service, price has far less influence because people are buying the ‘perceived value’ of what you are selling. Sure, price will be a part of that, but not always because it’s low! In lots of cases people pay more because they associate a higher price with a higher value, better quality, greater luxury, better results, etc etc.

Premium brands, luxury motor cars, Apple Macs, 5 star hotels and the like are all testament to this.

So what’s the take away here for you and your business?

If you are a business owner looking at building a website that will help you make sales, beware the trap of stylish looking web designer who will seduce you to build a good looking, expensive flash based website.

Unless the accompanying sales message has been expertly crafted, It won’t sell and it will just cost you a lot of money better spent later on getting traffic to your site.

In general, if you are selling any type of complex product or service, your business is going to sell much more if you can demonstrate and explain to prospects on your website
• what it is that distinguishes your product/business from the herd,
• why you are better and why that quality is important to them and their life
• why they should buying from you instead of your competitors.

Also, don’t forget that in the online world, words are important because search engines relate to web pages through words, not images.

Now you know this you won’t fall into the trap of thinking that a good looking design is what makes a good website, and you can avoid becoming the casualty of some trendy web designer who knows nothing about how to really help your business get sales online.

Unless you’ve been stuck in a coma for a decade, you’re probably aware that newspapers are finding it much harder to make ends meet, and its not surprising really, they’ve had to face a lot of changes.

You see, in the dark ages before the internet, newspapers pretty much had a monopoly on news, classified advertising, and the majority of display advertising too.

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What if everything you’ve been told about web design is a lie?

It’s conventional wisdom in today’s highly connected world that your business must have a website to succeed’! But is that really true?

The short answer is ‘only if it helps you get sales’.

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Do not use splash pages

The worst mistake you can ever make as a professional is by introducing a splash page on your website. When the customer visits your website, he doesn’t need to be reminded that he’s welcome. There are even splash pages that say ‘click here to enter’. These types of pages are the most annoying ones. The fact that the customer entered your web address in his browser means he wishes to enter your website. Such unprofessional practices should be avoided.

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When you are starting a new business, the risks involved are quite high. You wish to make an excellent first impression on your first client so that you can get a good review. A good first impression to some extent ensures a steady and stable start; which is what all new businessmen want.

Now that everything is digitized, the best way to make an impression on a client is through your website. The website gives you a chance to display all your products the way you want to present them. Therefore it is necessary that your website has an excellent design which shows your professionalism.

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Why the need of better usability?

Businesses that had made use of the internet for their marketing and sales have prospered. These days virtually every businessman has come to know of the benefits that lie in online marketing. Because of this, thousands of businesses; big and small have begun to shift their trading network online. This has lead to large amounts of competition online.

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How to provide better usability?

The question that arises when creating any new web design project these days is how to provide better usability? There are many factors and situations that contribute to better usability. Some main factors are discussed below.

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What you say and how you say it does matter. That is especially true when you are doing business and you wish to sell. Any good business person would know that proper marketing of your product or service is as important as the package you are offering your clients.

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A well designed website will always give your customers some reassurance of how good your service is. And by a good design we mean not only visually appealing but also well planned and organized website. A good website has to have a professional look, reflecting upon the company that owns it. And there is no web design company that can design a professional looking website for you without having some predefined rules to organize your work. It is therefore important to ensure your website design company follows these and implements them in your website.

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Doing business anywhere is an art, may it be in the physical world or the cyber world. You have to know how to deal with your customers so that it is beneficial for the both of you. This is particularly true in doing business online as your audience can even be the entire world. That would mean thinking of a flawless marketing strategy of which customer relationship would be a very important part. There are few procedures you need to follow in order to create a good relationship with your customers through your website; if you follow them then your business will run smoothly.

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