Website Objectives

Different websites have different purposes (e.g. to share information, or to sell a product,  or to market an idea). Regardless of the website purpose, there are a set of objectives applicable to most websites:

• Expectation. People (customers, suppliers, and so on) now expect businesses and organizations to have websites. The presence of a quality website adds to your credibility, whereas the absence detracts. Consequently, even if you have a non-internet business, it may be worthwhile making a small investment in having a website set up, even if it is just to meet this expectation.

• Trust. Some (or most) of the people arriving at your website may not be familiar with your business. However, they will be aware that the quality of online businesses vary. They will also be aware that some internet businesses are simply scams. To maximize the success of your website, you need to overcome these reservations. Various ways of doing this include:

  • Associations & Recognition. If you are a member of any professional association, have received any awards or have ever been mentioned in any local newspaper, it is worth adding this. Likewise, if you have professional qualifications (which accountants, lawyers, estate agents and such much have), consider not only listing these buy also stating where they are from. By associating yourself with a reputable or substantial organization, you gain some of the trust associated with that organisation.

  • Testimonials. Customer testimonials and reviews, of either your company or of your products, can add credibility. If a given product has a mixture of good and bad reviews, it may be worthwhile including both rather than just the good reviews, as it shows fairness and honesty.

  • Organization Details. The internet, in itself is very impersonal. Providing information about yourself and your business adds a human touch and face to the website and makes it more trustworthy. If you have a registered company, give the company name and registration.

  • Contact Details. The more contact information you can provide (email, phone, fax, office address, postal address) that you can provide, the more comfortable people will be dealing with you.

  • Professional Appearance. The layout, design and contents should look professional. It doesn't matter if your website is designed by your neighbor's son for free, provided that it looks like it was designed by a professional.

  • Content and Product Information. Depending on the nature of your business, there are other content considerations. For example, if you are selling equipment, don't just list the equipment with prices but provide lots of information about it --- pictures, descriptions, user manuals, even customer feedback (positive and negative). If your website looks professional, informed and concerned with the customer, then visitors are likely to form this view about your business and want to deal with you.

• Ease of Shopping. A website often makes it easier for potential buyers to find what they are looking for. For example, if someone is looking to buy a house, it is time consuming to describe exactly what they want to an estate agent. It is also time consuming to go through a large pile of paper house descriptions. The ability to go onto a website, specify the basic criteria (e.g. price, location, type of property) and get a list of matching properties is attractive to many potential clients. In many cases it is not the website with the best product or price that gets the sale, but the one that makes it easy for the potential client to quickly search for, find and pay for the product.

• Marketing. Business is increasingly done over the internet, with a corresponding increase in the number of clients which are first contacted over the internet. Having a website allows potential clients to find you. There are three main ways you can use your website to find clients:

  • If you rank high in the search engines, potential clients can find you by searching.

  • If you get related sites to provide a link to you, then people visiting other sites can follow the links to your site.

  • Finally, any advertising (whether it on on the internet or through more traditional media) should list your website.

• Retaining Potential Clients. If you have an interesting site, either in terms of products or information, people are likely to return to it even if they don't buy immediately. For example, real estate agents find that clients often do not see the property they are looking for on the first visit, but return to quality websites on a regular basis to check if new properties have been added which do match what they are looking for. Without the website, most of these clients would not bother checking these agents again. Your website should not only list your products but should have content and design that attracts clients and encourages them to return.

• Expanding Geographical Reach. A website means that clients can look at your products and services without leaving the comfort of their home or office. This allows you to sell over a much wider geographical area than otherwise possible.

• Selling your product/service. Last, but far from least, the website should actively sell your product/service. This is an area that is not well understood by many people. For example, if you are running a holiday business (gite, campground, etc.) your website should go beyond your facilities, to also describe local attractions and the benefits of the local region. Every website should be designed from the perspective of the potential buyer, what they would want and what they would like to know. Remember that internet visitors may not know you, or your business, or your local area, and may not even know your products that well. You need to provide them what they need, in a concise and easy way which does not overwhelm them with information.

Business Knowledge & Objectives

The relative importance of each of these objectives will vary from business to business. In addition, not only are there multiple ways in which each objective can be achieved, but the methods that are appropriate for one website may be completely inappropriate for another:

• For example, a website advertising pizzas for delivery would be expected to provide detailed pricing (e.g. how much each pizza costs and how much extra for each added ingredient). However, many people would consider it unprofessional for a medical website to provide this sort of detailed information.

• An another example, the website of a large technology company would be expected to have a leading-edge website design. On the other hand, a website asking for charity donations may create a negative impression with such a design (people would wonder why a charity is spending so much money on design).

• A less obvious example is that the age, background and socio-economic class of potential clients affects the way in which one markets. Marketing experts are very familiar that the way in which one advertises and sells is dependent on these factors, as well as the product itself. Likewise, a website design needs to take into account not only the nature of the products being sold but also who they are being sold to.

It is increasingly standard for even the smallest of businesses to have a website, not to mention the many businesses which are primarily internet based. Unfortunately, the success of many of these websites is limited by the fact that they are insufficiently grounded in the objectives of the business. If the business owner is not technically sophisticated, the tendency is to develop the website around a specification and 'website technology', which can reduce the success of the website (as measured by business objectives rather than technical performance). One can have the most beautiful, technically sophisticated and elegant website in the world, but if the design is not based on the business objectives, the contribution of the website will be less than what it should be.

Although a website designer may have some awareness of these issues, they are unlikely to have either the detailed industry knowledge or the detailed marketing knowledge which the business owner (and his staff) have. Consequently, the most effective websites are usually those which are based on a close collaboration between the website owner and the website designer, rather than those which are based on handing a specification to a website designer.

In our experience, one should be especially careful to ensure that the design is not overly sophisticated. There is a tendency to strive for technical excellence, such as 'Flash', high-definition graphics and even video. In many cases, such additions are driven by the website design team, as they try to provide the latest and greatest. However, they can add substantially to the cost of designing and maintaining a website, while adding little benefit. In fact, they can actually reduce the effectiveness of the website (e.g. by increasing download times to the points that visitors give up and go away). This is not to say that such things are always a bad idea (e.g. the wildly successful www.youtube.com is based on video), merely that one needs to carefully look at them within the context of the website objectives, so that they are used when, where and how they will make a contribution.