Just about everyone has a website today.
Certainly, if you're in business one way oranother, you have a website. And people have different objectives behind theirsites. Some are content-driven. Others provide an online service and havesophisticated user interfaces. Others still are designed to entertain and amusetheir visitors. But regardless what your website is designed to do, there are a fewprimary objectives you should keep in mind before you start building.
This first website objective is FOCUS.
Your site needs to have a narrow and specificfocus.
Why is this? Because there are literally millions of websites out there andthe visitors you're lucky enough to attract will only take a few seconds to decidewhether they'll stick around or whether they'll simply click the back button andcontinue browsing elsewhere. Within those few seconds, your site needs tocommunicate exactly what it's designed to do so the visitor can decide if it meetshis or her needs or not. One of the best exercises to enhance the focus of your site is to establish a 15 to25-word positioning statement that guides all your development activity goingforward.
Think about it like a mission statement.
It should articulate exactly whatyour website does in just 15 to 25 words. Another way to look at it is to do a Google search for a keyword in your field andsee what comes up in the results page. Under each listing, there's a shortdescription of what that site is all about. As it turns out, the search engines getthat description from the meta tags on those websites but it's exactly the samething.
What do you want YOUR description to say?
Once you've established a positioning statement, you should display it prominentlyon your homepage. It should be one of the first things visitors see when they landon your website. And as I mentioned above, the same statement should be included inyour meta tags as your site description. That way, the search engines know exactlywhat your site is about at the same time. And if your site shows up in a searchresults page, that description will show up as part of your listing.
The second objective is DEPTH.
Again, this objective serves your visitors as well asthe search engines.
Build a massive amount of content all about your narrow businessfocus. That way, if a visitor lands on your website and decides in the first fewseconds that they need what you're providing, they'll go on to find a ton ofresources all about that topic, satisfying their need and establishing trust alongthe way.Depth of content helps your website with the search engines as well. Google usescomplicated algorithms to assess value to different websites and one of the biggestthings they look for is content. If your website has a narrow focus and lots ofcontent about that focus, it will get ranked higher within your area of expertise. Google will consider your site a good resource for people searching for your narrowfocus.
The third objective is to make your site STICKY
This is a relatively new term thatdescribes a website's ability to keep a visitor on the site. A lot of sites do afairly good job of attracting visitors but many of those visitors take one look atthe site and leave within a second or two. As I mentioned earlier, the positioningstatement can do a lot to help someone understand what your site is designed to do. But you need more than that to keep them browsing.The visitor needs to see immediate value when they visit your site. They need to seesomething that will benefit them right away. They need to see something they can useto make their own lives better. This is the foundation behind today's value-firstmarketing moniker. People have been over-marketed and have become skeptical inclever marketing slogans.
They want to see the value. They want proof that you candeliver. They want to sample your product or service before they buy anything. You should spend some time and think about what you can offer your website visitorsas soon as they land on your site. It could be information. It could be a tool orcalculator of some kind. It could be a free subscription. It could be anentertaining video or an interactive game they can play. Whatever it is, you need tocapture your visitor within seconds and guide them to something that will benefitthem.Once they've received one piece of value, give them a second and then a third. Guidethem through a maze of value, encouraging them to continue browsing and discoveringeven more. This is the key to a sticky website and you can get a good idea of yourprogress by measuring your average time on the site through your analytics platform. There are a million different websites out there and they're all designed to achievedifferent objectives. But each one of those websites can be a bit better byincorporating more focus, depth and stickiness. All three improve your website'effectiveness and all three offer benefits with the search engines as well.
About the Author:Tactical Execution with Patrick Schwerdtfeger is a strategic company focused ongrowth marketing and program implementation across business markets. Visit thewebsite for actionable guidance for revenue generation.
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