3 ways to make your website succeed
How to make your website succeed
I know you want to fill in the blank here – “How to make your website succeed… (without really trying),” but the truth is that there’s a lot of effort that goes into the most successful websites. Website operators don’t randomly stumble into their success; they have a plan to succeed and they work that plan. If you’re looking for ways to make your website succeed, consider the following strategies.
Establish your goals. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. That’s true for websites, too. If you really want to make your website succeed, you should establish some goals to help you measure how well you’re doing. Knowing what you’re aiming tends to eliminate unfocused trial-and-error strategies that prevent you from making forward progress. A goal could be to increase website traffic or increase website sales. It might even be to increase in-person traffic, based on website promotions. Regardless of what your goals are, committing them to paper helps because you will know immediately if what you’re doing on the website resonates with your visitors.
Identify your audience(s). Speaking of your visitors, knowing who you want to attract is insanely helpful. It allows you to compare your ideal visitor with your actual visitors. In turn, that tells you whether you’re reaching your target market. You may find a difference between your desired visitor and your actual ones – which is OK. Maybe that means your product or service has an appeal you weren’t aware of, or it could mean that you’re just missing the mark. In either case, knowing you you’re appealing to can help you build on that attraction, or shift your tactics to reach the right audience.
Polish your content. Content is king. It’s why people search websites to begin with. Remember that your visitors are coming to you from all over the technology landscape: desktop computers, laptops, tablets, phones, watches, etc., and these devices all have different browsers and capabilities. Users also have different connections – from slow DSL, cellular or Wi-Fi network connections to high-grade, direct commercial connections. Their devices, browsers and/or Internet connections may (or may not) handle certain content types very well. Websites that are Flash-heavy, Java or Javascript-heavy or that require special plug-ins or browser add-ons to operate, or that are loaded with scripts or advertising may have so much going on that visitors can’t reach the content! In your effort to make your website succeed, don’t lose track of why your visitors are there in the first place!
If you would like more information about making your website succeed, please contact our Creative Director, Dave Ramsell or give Dave a call at (330) 243-0651 to set up a consultation.
Photo Credit: John Noble, via FreeImages.com
