June 20, 2007

Connecting Through Your Web Site

I have heard a lot of different people give ideas on what a web site needs to look like. Often times this advice comes in the form of “If I can’t tell what you do in 6 seconds”, or “If I can’t tell what you do from six feet away form the screen” when I look at the site, then it is wrong. I would put forth however that these types of generalizations stem form the same mindset that asks “who is your target?”

It is important to remember that the way the web is consumed gives you the ability to do two things that may seem contradictory: 1- To reach a broader audience, and 2- to have a more intimate relationship with them. This is due tot he fact that traditional communications, on the phone, through printed collateral, etc. Is a one-size-fits-all. If a web presence is managed correctly it allows it to be consumed in a variety of ways… which can feel more intimate to a variety of audiences.

There are at least four key consumption types to consider when you are working on your web site:

Company Researcher

Many people want to find out about your company quickly. The internet has allowed many small, or smoke-and-mirrors companies to seem bigger than they are. Many people who are considering doing business with you will hit your site and quickly go to two key areas:

1- Press releases / news. You better have new content here at least every few months or it looks like you are not doing anything. Don’t wait six months to put it up either. If you had lots of activity, and then have alull, it looks like your company has fallen on hard times.

2- Management team. People want to see good people with experience.

Product / Service Researcher

Make sure these people can quickly find product details on your site. Don’t overwhelm them initially with data, but have a way for them to get to more information. Give the an overview, but give them a way to get some real meat. To many companies force you to call to really understand what their products and services do.

Snackers

Some of the best ways to get traffic to your site will also product the least patient viewers. Someone who came to you through adwords, Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, or similar high traffic social mechanisms have little patience. Hook them instantly, give them a quick call to action or you will lose them. This can be accomplished with landing pages that then lead people into other parts of your site as needed.

Bloggers

Rather you choose to blog or not, you cannot ignore that there is a growing community out there that really wants to get to “know” the company and products they deal with. They want to see that there are real people involved, and see what other real people are saying. You may choose as a company not to blog, but know that you will not be connecting at the intimate level for some of your potential consumers.

So who is your target? If the answer to that is “My targets are…” you will find yourself able to leverage the reach, the realtime feedback, the low costs, and the ability to quickly react that the Web brings. But you also be able to build a more intimate relationship that makes so many of the Web’s social aspects so powerful.

Posted in Advertising, Marketing