Search
Recommended Products
Related Links


 

 

Informative Articles

Can I Optimize A Site Designed With Frames?
Can you optimize a site designed in frames? Of course you can! The question should be, "how effectively can I optimize a web sire designed in frames?" Framed sites – in my opinion – have little use in today's web design....

Key Components of Effective Web Design
The key to effective web design is to convert visitors of your web site into buyers. There are numerous ways to do this, the first being the organization of you web site. Organization and allowing the visitor to easily navigate throughout your...

Promotion and Web Design Tips
This article gives free tips on how to find a cheap web designer and free tips on website promotion. Cheap web design services. You do not have to spend thousands of pounds to have an internet prescence. In my opinion you should only have to pay...

To Hire or not to Hire a Website Designer
In the early years of the internet the actual design of a website was either very basic or had to be done using a software package that needed a specialist to use it. Not surprisingly, website designers were in short supply and could command huge...

Writing For The Web - Four Steps You Can't Ignore!
By April Ward - Internet Consultant www.aprilward.net ©Copyright 2004 aprilward.net If you are developing a new web site or upgrading the web site you have, you may be wondering how to get started. When I consult my clients regarding their web...

 
Small Business Website Design Strategies

Small Business Website Design Strategies



For a small business a website can have a massive impact on whether that small business thrives or dies out. There are several very important differences between a website built for a large business and a website built for a small business. It's important that a small business and the website design company who builds the website for that small business are aware of those differences so that the website has the greatest positive impact.

First of all don't try to look and act like the big boys. If you are a small business please do not plaster your site with platitudes like "family owned since 1642" or "customer service is our specialty" blah blah. IBM and Coke can get away with having pretty sites that blather on and on using all kinds of corporate jargon but a small business cannot do that. Here's why...

Big companies are already established brands. They can rest on their laurels now; at least they think they can. A small business website needs to grab the visitor by the throat with some hard hitting headlines and copy and get busy proving its case because before visiting that website it's likely the visitor has never heard of that small business.

Think of it like a courtroom. The small business is on trial it's products and services are suspect from the get go. That small business needs to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that it can provide the best value over its competitors. What's worse is that you only have about 8 seconds from the


time the visitor hits the homepage to the time they click the back button to hook them into your sales copy.

The number one difference here is the copy. A small business website needs to be a life support unit for its unique selling proposition or USP not a contestant in this year's flashy foo foo web design award contest. Win customers not awards. Forget the animation and music and go easy on the images. What a small business needs is a lean, mean conversion machine.

Studies show the visitors don't even consciously register images until after they have absorbed the copy on the page. Makes sense because what they came for was information not the old receptionist at the desk on the phone pictures that we have seen over and over again. They want to know who the heck you are and what you can do for them and make it snappy!

It's brutal but that's the way it works. A small business that knows this and applies this to their website has a huge advantage over those who don't. So if you are a small business owner and need a website keep this article in mind or if you have an existing website take a look at it and reevaluate it's effectiveness in light of this information. Small changes can have dramatic effects on sales conversion.



About the author:

Article is submitted on behalf of Charles Preston, who is President of Click Response, a website marketing and design firm where you can get affordable search engine optimization that works.