A website that tries to do everything loses focus. All sites do a bit of everything, but you should choose one major goal for your site and make it the focus of development. Ask yourself: What result do I expect from going online?
Consider these seven categories. Each emphasizes a different role your site might play in your company's success.
E-commerce.
Make money by selling products online. Create passive income by building an online store that sells products you already have in stock.
More on ecommerce sites.
Lead generation.
Attract visitors who leave information behind so that your sales force can follow up within 24 hours. These sites are optimized for the search engines and designed to lead customers to an order form where they provide contact information and an indication of their interests.
More on lead generation sites.
Sticky content.
Activities, articles and tips keep customers coming back. Many of these sites sell products, but the main source of revenue is ads. To improve ad rate$, you need to tell vendors how many visitors you get, how long they spend on the site and what their behavioral profile looks like. Tracking is vital. Forms and activities that seduce visitors into providing personal information is also valuable. More on sticky content sites.
E-learning.
We can provide you with information on how students learn and how online learning can be more effective. Recognize how and where students access courses, prerequisites, requirements, interaction design, and methods for evaluation and self-testing. More on elearning sites.
Customer self service.
Help customers find answers and become essential to their success with FAQs, spec sheets, maps and location finders for stores carrying your product. Save money by reducing the time your staff spends answering common questions and support sales staff by providing product information online. More on customer self-service sites.
Social networking.
Visitors become friends when they habitually spend hours online twittering or text messaging. These sites are also popular among marketing companies looking for unscripted customer feedback. More on social networking sites. 40% of adults who use social networks visit their sites every day.
Pure vanity.
There was a time when vanity sites dominated the internet. Much like today's blogs, they focused on "me and my cat. " Their payback lies in feedback. Traffic, time spent reading the subject matter, and visitor's comments. More on vanity site.
If you aren't sure what your focus should be, quick link to common website goals. |