How to build solid website foundations
Creating a business website is a very important decision for any business to make. Careful planning is required to ensure that the website delivers to the business what one would expect from a marketing investment: support the business’ growth as well as it’s short-term and long-term sales and marketing objectives. In this story, we talk about how a business owner in the building industry came up with a plan, after talking to experts, to get the most out of his website investment.
Lee runs a flourishing building company that employs three full time staff and is planning on investing on new equipment, business infrastructure and a web site.
Being experts in the field, Lee asked us for advice on how to get his website started.
Our first question was: “Why do you want to build a website?”. After hesitating for a moment he mentioned how “everyone is talking about the Internet”, and “these days you must have a website”, and finally admitted that all his major competitors had already built one. Not to mention the fact that his wife (also in the company as an Administrator) had told him they needed to get a website to look more professional. That alone, seemed a good reason for him to engage in this new venture.
Building a website is like building a house. What we realised was that Lee simply hadn’t taken the time to think of what he wanted to achieve through his website – his objectives.
We explained to Lee that he had to start thinking of his future website as if it was a house that he was planning to build.
Not surprisingly the analogy was particularly fitting and Lee agreed that building a house and constructing a website have a few things in common:
1. A clear plan before building starts
2. Budgeting and cost control
3. Consideration of both design and functionality
4. Solid foundations
5. A clear maintenance strategy
6. A marketing strategy to take it to market
A website needs solid foundations We pointed out that just in the same way as a building will not stand without good foundations, a website cannot stand without good content. Simply, people will not come back to visit, least of all, respond to any sales or marketing messages. It simply will not attract target customers and will have very little value.
So Lee had a question for us now. How do I develop “good” website content? What does it all mean and where do I start?
Content is the foundation of any successful website. Quality content is essential to help create a “sticky” website – a site that attracts repeat visitors and encourages them to sign-up for a newsletter, fill out an order form, download a whitepaper or whatever it is you would want customers to do.
To attract web visitors you will need to produce unique content that is both relevant and “accessible” to customers and search engines. Here is a useful guideline to follow when planning your website content.
Who is my website for? Who will access it and use it and what would they be looking for? It is important to remember that web content needs to be relevant to the target audience. In this case, Lee’s customers are mostly wealthy home owners looking to build unique, architecturally designed homes. This means that web content needs to focus on inspirational home designs which can be done through a picture gallery showcasing samples and works, 3D perspectives, layouts, even an online tour. Lee is also deals with a number of contractors in the building and trades industry so he also needs to produce content that is relevant to them.
For a business consultant however, a more appropriate web content would be along the lines of “how to” articles, whitepapers and position papers that are informative, educational and helps to establish one’s credibility.
How will the content be presented? It is essential to think of a structure for the content itself. Content can be presented or distributed in a few different ways.
Open content is a classic way to display web site information openly to all visitors, enable all to read, browse and save/copy the content.
Downloadable content is used for websites offering specific information that needs to be provided in a printable format such as .pdf or Word documents. This is the case for content such as price lists, product features, technical specifications, order forms or extensive content that cannot be easily displayed on a web page.
Reserved content is useful where the information is provided only through a members’ only area or via a secure login for customers.
How will I produce (or source) the content I need? Lee has professional expertise in his industry and therefore his knowledge and experience makes him a valuable source of information. The trick is to communicate or translate this expertise into a ”story” that connects with a target audience.
Here are some ideas on the types of web content that may be presented:
Original content. Search engines (and humans) penalise copied content by not coming back. Search engines recognise copied content and this can affect your web site’s ranking. Besides you could incur into legal problems due to copyright issues.
Company history. Why not include information on the company history, if you think this is relevant? In Lee’s case the company was newly formed and he believed that information about his father’s prior involvement and achievements in the construction industry would also help to establish his credibility as a builder.
Useful links. Direct visitors to other relevant websites offering quality content (and exchange links if you can). A usefule links channel for a building company could be real estate agents in the same areas and local government web sites.
Photo gallery. Remember your content includes text and photos, so take care in choosing good quality photos to display.
Industry updates. What’s happening in the building industry? What are the latest materials used and styles?
Testimonials. We all get feedback from customers. Get it in writing and ask for permission to display it on your website.
A guestbook. Why not invite visitors to leave comments on your website? This technique can help produce some interesting and genuine content for your website as well leads for your business.
Clients. Dedicate a page to your top clients, or business partners as this can help to increase your company profile and give customers reassurance of your expertise.
New projects. What are you currently working on? New and current projects allow potential customers to see that your company is active and running new projects.
Classic pages. All web sites have at least three ‘must have’ or ‘classic’ pages: about us, contact us and a site map. Don’t take these pages for granted and try to develop quality content and structure for these pages as well. The ‘About us’ page could include not only a list of staff members, but also their qualifications and training. Use an ‘email form’ on the contact page to allow visitors to contact you easily and request an appointment.
Lee is currently getting his web site content and structure developed ready to launch his business online.
Next month we will talk about “putting your house on the market” or promoting your website.
Great Savings on Website Design!
To save up to 15% on the normal retail price of Melbourne IT Do-It-Yourself and Done-For-You Websites, call 1300 132 838 or send us an expression of interest and we will call you back. Hurry, this offer ends 28 February 2007.