Identify Your Online Customer

I deal with clients just about every day whose aim it is to have a "killer website." Great. But, that leaves a lot to question about what that really means. Of course, "killer" is a subjective idea. To some a killer website is one that uses all the latest, bleeding-edge technology. To others, a straight-forward design that sends the company message is just the ticket.

But, when I ask, "who is your ideal customer, and what do you want him or her to do?" I often get silence. Yet, this question should be answered prior to beginning any web design project. As an example, a website that sells books can reasonably expect pretty much anyone to find an interesting title. The goal is to sell books.

But, say you are a kitchen remodeler. It is pretty unlikely that any one is going to make that kind of decision from your website alone. So, a more reasonable goal is to motivate some initial contact by the potential customer.

The point is that a "killer website" is one that leads to your desired outcome. Everything else is just decoration. So before beginning any design project, first identify and define your customer.

The Web Design Process

It is no secret that static websites aren't all that hard to develop. As a result, web designers are everywhere, and to those who are unfamiliar with the web design process, those who can create and publish a website are often viewed in the same bucket. But, this is clearly not the case. Something that frustrates me constantly is to see a "web designer" with dozens of websites to his or her credit, all knocked out using FrontPage, and with little hope of achieving the objectives of the site owner.

Web design and development, at least in the business environment, is a function of Marketing. I think businesses, especially smaller ones tend to take the view that web marketing is like other forms of advertising, in that you throw a page up and hope for the best. When no one comes in or calls, announcing to have "found you on the web," the assumption is that the website doesn't "work." Or, that web marketing doen't work for their business.

But, web marketing does work. The flaw is in the web development process. Before a single line of code is written, the goal(s) for the website, a profile of the company's best customer and a strategy for attracting him or her must be firmly established. Like every form of marketing, tactics must be formulated and measures created for determining sucess.

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Most SEOs are Full of it.

Search engine optimization is one of the most important things to consider when developing your business' website. Part art, part science, search engine optimization, or SEO is the practice of optimizing a website's content and source code so that it will rank well on Google, Yahoo! and other search engines.

That said, most so-called SEOs are completely full of it. There is no single magic SEO bullet. SEO is a process that ideally starts at a website's conception, and continues throughout the life of the organization. Like every other specialized field, SEO draws on the expertise gained through a commitment to learning and through first-hand experience.

It's a process that takes a significant amount of time, so hiring experts is often worthwhile. But, choosing an SEO firm can be about as much fun as buying a car. You want the car but, deep down, you just can't shake the feeling that you're being ripped off.

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