• Article

One of the things website owners often neglect in the site development phase is having a clear purpose for their site that gives focus to its functions. From experience I know that many website owners want their websites to do everything. They heard of a company doing such and such with their site and they too want to do the same. However, this rarely results in an effective website. As I do understand that the possibilities for your website are endless, especially considering recent times, I’m going to help you with some of the basics by getting you to think critically about your site’s purpose.

Who Is Your Site For?

Your site is primarily for you, your cause and your audience. In the early days, I typically asked clients what was their reason for having a website. Many of them said they just needed “a place for people to visit online” and my usual jerk-of-knee response was, “I’m sure your store isn’t just there on some street with some signage”. With experience though, I eventually noticed that a much better question was, “what does your business do?” This elicited something of great value, the ultimate purpose of their website where everything else can be given some context and accurately defined, especially their audience.

As the Internet has a worldwide audience, individuals find it really difficult to understand exactly who their audience consist of. They are faced with the dilemma of concentrating on their current customers versus potential customers and as everyone can be considered a potential customer they arrive back where they started. However, can everyone who doesn’t use your product/service REALLY be considered a prospect? Of course NOT! So be a little more considerate of what you offer and who would buy into it when realistically defining your actual target market. This process isn’t just good for the website alone but for business in general. We often don’t have these things sorted and as a consequence we run into problems and waste valuable resources targeting the wrong people. That is simply bad business.

Your Site Should Extend Your Company Online

As I mentioned, sites can perform many functions, the most important of these being its ability to connect you to your customers. Thinking about this process from an offline a business perspective we should quickly notice that traditional business functions persist online.

We should still aim to build good customer relationships and a good reputation, create awareness of our particular cause (e.g., products, services), persuade others to buy into it, ensure that efficient support structures are in place (e.g., for communications, e-commerce) and to facilitate business development. Understandably, translating business functions online is somewhat different when compared to its equivalent offline. One reason being that human behaviour in cyberspace is undisputedly different in several ways to how we behave offline. Nonetheless, the same basic business principles apply to both spaces.

Your Site Should Be Audience-Centred/Relevant

Considering what your online audience/customers need from you is also very important for your website. Besides the obvious product/service information you offer, you need to find out from your customers/audience what they need and will appreciate you providing. With the arrival and heavy adoption of social media you are much better positioned to do just this. Integrating these communication tools within your site can be quite advantageous.

Beyond focusing on what information your audience will need and appreciate, closely paying attention to how this information is presented and also your audience’s state of mind (, YES, their state of mind) is important. For instance, trust is a huge issue for online consumers and even people like you who just seek advice. Your online audience must perceive you as being credible and trustworthy, someone who offers a product, service and or advice (i.e., a viable solution) that they can confidently use or act on.

Final Words, For Now

Though quite simple advice, we often miss these little things and need some reminding from time to time. Just be sure you got these basics sorted and you will be on your way.