Monday, January 4, 2010

10 THINGS YOUR SITE MUST HAVE

Getting these ten things right will help you impress customers and compete more effectively with larger businesses. When customers visit your website, they want information instantly. If they can’t find what they are looking for, they can get frustrated pretty quickly and leave, or worse they could go looking for one of your competitors to find what they need. It is important to keep the user experience in mind, meaning you need to find a balance between your need to promote your business and your customer’s need to get the information they want.

So just what are customers looking for when they come to your site? Here, in no particular order, are the top 10 things customers are trying to find on your website:


  1. Contact Information, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and physical location.

  2. Product Information, which means in-depth information on the products or services you provide, including prices.

  3. Samples of your products or previous work.

  4. Support, including product information, troubleshooting help, FAQs, etc.

  5. Shopping, it is important for your customers to quickly find out how to purchase products, be it online or at a physical location where your products are being sold.

  6. Company Information, such as background information on the business and the management team.

  7. News and announcements, including press releases and updated product or service enhancements.

  8. Employment opportunities.

  9. Back Home, an easy way to get back to your home page where all paths begin in the customer’s mind.

  10. Simple Navigation that makes all these other items easy to find.


And AS A BONUS, don’t ever forget that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Use them liberally throughout your website, especially to break up large amounts of text.


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