Thanks for joining me again for this series. We’ve gone over a lot of the
fundamentals of website. We will now get into the part you really cannot put
your finger on, but these things are just as crucial to your success:
6. Is interesting: This is very similar to the discussion in Element number
5 above. The only thing to add here is that you don't want to just cut and
paste from other websites for the free information I was talking about. How
dull can you get! This is copyright infringement anyway. Just sit down and
start writing what you know. If you can't write or spell worth a flip, find
a friend who is very good at writing and pay them a small fee to research
and write on the subject. You want your website to be uniquely "you" or
your company. It should have your personality or your company's unique
personality written all over it. Just before you go to sleep at night or
while you're taking a shower, some of the best ideas to make your site more
interesting will come to you. (This is when I get my best ideas...you may
get yours while mowing the lawn or driving or whatever) Keep a small
notebook handy near those places of inspiration. Write these ideas down and
act on them. (doing this while driving is not recommended!) Chances are,
they're the best ideas you'll have. They usually come from your
subconscious. I am a firm believer in the subconsious mind solving my
problems for me. When I was a full time computer programmer, I used to go
to bed at night with a programming problem really bugging me. The next
morning - the answer was there. Anyway, use your creative processes however
best they work for you. A boring site will be worse than a whole site
dedicated to "I love my company", as mentioned in Element number 5 above. If
the subject itself is technical and a little boring, so be it. However, if
your subject could be spiced up a little, try to do so. And please, don't
think that putting cute little images on your site that jump up and down are
going to make the subject matter more interesting. It's like reading a book
that has no real depth. It won't take long for your visitors to skim through
your site and leave. Surfing the web is very personal for most people, as
well as interactive. They're sitting up straight, very close to the screen,
and they're not sleeping, like so many of us who watch television. Take
advantage of how much an Internet visitor is involved in the experience of
surfing to your site. They'll tell everyone, I promise you! Haven't you
ever gotten an email from someone you know that includes a link in it and
says something like: "You've gotta check out this website. It's cool!"
Wouldn't it be great if a bunch of people sent each other those about YOUR
website? I'd have to call that the ultimate compliment of an Internet
surfer.
7. Serves a great need: Just like any other marketing strategy, the most
important question to ask yourself is "What human need is my website and
product going to fulfill?" This is the same question you'll ask yourself
about your product or service. This helps you to stay focused on the purpose
of your website and keeps the content consistently targeted towards that
need or group of needs. Any sale happens because the person buying felt like
the product or service was going to fulfill a need they had. Get to know
what kinds of needs people have. Maslow said that people have a hierarchy of
needs. He saw the first needs that must be fulfilled are basic survival
needs like air, water, food, and sex. After those were fulfilled, he
believed that humans try to fulfill safety needs like security and stability
in their lives. The most complex needs are the self-actualizing needs like
love, belonging, acceptance. Try to figure out what your service or product
fulfills as far as human needs you’re your website has to incite feelings in
a person. Does your website allow them to dream about a better life? A new
car? Capitalize on it, and direct your website to treating them as if
they're your friend. Know how it feels to have this need fulfilled. This
may seem a little deep to you for a sale, but the security need has been
targeted over and over by insurance salesmen! Have you ever had to use the
restroom so bad in a meeting that you could not concentrate on what was
going on in that meeting? This is what Maslow meant by hierarchy of needs.
This may take some thought, but eventually you'll figure out what it is that
makes your website necessary to its visitors. Also, don't forget that
people often have a need to relieve stress by having fun. Your website may
fulfill this need while selling them something else. This is probably why
joke and game websites do so well. This brings us to the next element of a
great website.
7. Is fun: Highly technical websites cannot really be very fun in most
cases, but the average website can have some fun in it. Maybe there's a
contest of some kind, or a joke of the day. Whatever makes you laugh, will
probably make your visitor laugh as well. Fun is essential in this
stressful world. Find something that will make your website enjoyable to
visit, and add it to your site today! After all, we're human and like a
good laugh once in awhile. Crude jokes probably won't do too well, unless
your target customer base is crude. However, fun makes your site more
interesting.
Next time, we'll talk about something that will make every business owner
shiver, but it's necessary in the strange world of the Internet sale! I look
forward to seeing you again!
About the Author
Lynne Schlumpf is the CEO of Route 66 Cyber Cafe, Inc.,
http://www.r66cci.com, a Web hosting and design company
specializing in promoting websites for new owners, building
affordable e-commerce sites, and providing reliable web hosting
solutions as an affiliate of Virtualis Incorporated.