What Kind of Website Do You Need?

Before hiring a designer, make a list of what you want your website to be and do. This will help you determine how your site should be built, who can build it and what it will cost. 

​For ideas, look at other websites in your industry to see what they're doing. Pick and choose the elements that fit your business model.

​Knowing what goes into creating a website will help you make an informed decision about the kind of help you're going to need. No matter your budget, it can make sense to at least do some of the work yourself, but that will depend on your tech and marketing skill level. Doing some of the easier bits yourself, with guidance, can save money. 

The site had a difficult to use back end and management dashboard.

The look and imagery was really hurting. Tom’s work, a key differentiator, wasn’t presented in the best light. The templates were very basic, with no standard grids, which made it difficult to maintain with a consistent, professional look. Who really wants to spend that much of their time these days writing HTML and modifying the CSS?

The architecture was confusing; the language written for some old Google algorithm, not human beings — you know, the people that actually buy stuff.

Let’s just say, his online presence went through a drastic change on 3/26/20. Here’s what we did:

Website builder platform: We built the new site on Squarespace, because it presents images beautifully. It has an overall “design” appearance that underscores what Watson’s Wooden Words is all about. Like other popular platforms, it's also mobile responsive, easy to use and maintain. If ecommerce had been a priority, we would have chosen another platform, but with so much customization it's too complex at this point. Leads are acquired by website form, email and phone.

Overall design and personality: We chose fonts and colors that warmed it up and reinforced the personal brand. We added lifestyle images from customers (which saved money on photography), rather than just showing signs alone. We resized all the images to better show detail, while optimizing size for less impact on site speed.

Less is more: We improved the navigation by reducing the number of items in the main menu to feature popular pages (based on website traffic data), and moved secondary navigation into the footer. Content was edited down to focus on key differentiators, while making it easier for visitors to acquire information, and to ultimately drive contact and purchase.

Translate Psychographics to Your Website

Website creators imagine personas to help them develop meaningful content. A persona is a fictional person defined by their psychographics, as well as behaviors and demographics. Thinking about who you’re communicating with in this way makes it easier to write for them. I often think of people I know who fit a specific profile and pretend I’m having a conversation with them. 

Overall, you want to show the visitor you understand them, their needs and problems. Choose the words and imagery, tone and style that resonates with how they think. Speak in terms they understand and care about. 

• Design: What will your customer appreciate and value in terms of the overall look and feel? How important is design to them, or do they just want to get to the information quickly?
• Navigation and layout: What will your visitor want to know in priority order; first, second, third, etc. What are they thinking when deciding to make a purchase? Organize your information to match.
• Headline: Headlines should always offer a benefit to the reader and achieve the right tone. 
• Content: Make a list of the questions customers have in mind when they visit a website like yours. The answers you write become a good foundation for an FAQ page, but this material could form the basis for your entire site. Google is especially fond of websites that respond to what people are asking while doing a search.
• Call to Action: For each persona, think about what would motivate them to do what you want. Explain the benefit they’ll derive from taking that action.