Will Your Website Pull Its Own Weight?

(First published in the November 2008 issue of Upper Peninsula Business Today)

In today’s business world, it’s better to have a website, any website, than to not be online. However, there’s a huge difference between having a website that makes you more money, brings in more customers, or improves service to existing customers, and a website that just sits there like an unread brochure. Think of your website like an employee… would you hire someone you knew would come in to work and just sit there costing you money?

The job your website does should depend on your business or organization. Not everyone is selling widgets, so not everyone needs a shopping cart. You should start by determining what your business or organization’s goals are. When you have a good picture of what you’d like to accomplish, then it’s time to talk to a professional web designer. Make sure you and your designer are on the same page and that they understand your goals.

Increase Your Sales

If your main goal is to increase sales, then your website should revolve around making it easy for a visitor to give you their money. Don’t spend a lot of space on your company history, a collection of links to other sites, or virtual tours… put featured products right up front! Make it obvious how to “buy now” or “add to cart” and of course the “check out” should always be handy.

The check out process itself should be as painless as possible—don’t worry about using long forms to collect a ton of personal information, only what’s necessary to complete the sale. There’ll be plenty of time later for gathering marketing information. With cart abandonment rates anywhere from 25% to 75%, don’t give your customers any reason to get frustrated or distracted from completing a sale. Focus up-sells or additional sales on the “thank you” pages rather than during the ordering process.

Make sure your website provides a receipt your customers can print, and a “thank you” page letting your customer know how much you appreciate their business.

Create an Online Community

You can build loyalty to your company or organization if you create an opportunity for like-minded customers to interact. Discussion boards are the most traditional method of doing this. Sharing their experience and opinions online with others reinforces their relationship with you. This won’t work for everyone, but when it does, it can be the best investment you’ve ever made.

To go this route, make sure that you or someone working for you can spend the time managing it and keeping current with the technology. You’ll want to make sure your company is involved and an active foundation for your new online community.

Improve Customer Support

Imagine how happy your customers would be if you hired someone to answer their questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Without adding to your payroll you can actually come pretty close.

Compile a list of your customer’s frequently asked questions, and provide answers to them on your web site. This isn’t an opportunity to answer questions you wish your customers would ask—stick to information you know they want because they’ve already asked. This will help you build trust.

Create an online help desk to centralize and document support issues. By providing a page where customers can initiate a support request, you can provide a sense of being taken care of. By setting up an automated response to a new request, you can further reinforce your positive impression. Be sure to state in your automated responses what your expected personal response time will be and then be sure to follow through. You’ll be able to do more with fewer man hours by utilizing an online support system.

Resist Temptation

It may be tempting to use your website to create an online shrine to you, your company or your brand… but don’t do it. The problem is, no one cares. Your website should include some basic information about who you are and what you do, but statistics show that people are spending less time browsing around a site, and are instead visiting sites for a specific purpose. Make it easy for them to accomplish their purpose, and you’ll win them over.

Above all else, make sure you know what you want your website to do for you. It’s as important to give it a job description as any other employee in your organization.