Often when I’m talking with a potential customer, they get stuck one question. Is improving their website really worth the investment?

They might want a good website in theory. But paying for it can seem like money spent on overhead, without much return on investment.

That’s why I help customers figure out clear business goals for their website, before they get started. Goals intended to help their business grow.

Those goals could include things like having more customers:

  • Fill out a “request for estimate” form
  • Click a “chat with a salesperson” button
  • Download a brochure, sales flyer, or white paper
  • Watch a sales video
  • Download a coupon
  • Sign up for a mailing list
  • And, of course, make a purchase!

Once we set goals for a website, its value becomes more clear. And our job as web developers also becomes clear: design a site that will achieve those goals.

We do that in a lot of ways. By creating a professional website that lends credibility to the business. By building intuitive navigation that lead visitors through a desired “path” in the site. By making contact information easy to find. By creating easy-to-use forms. And by designing effective calls to action.

The proof in the pudding is when we measure results against the goals. We can measure just about anything using Google Analytics. But we also love to hear firsthand results from our customers. Like when HotSpring told us that the majority of their sales were now coming in through their website. Or when K12 Gallery told us that online donations were starting to roll in.

From my perspective, a beautiful website is great. But if it’s not helping your business grow, it’s just so much ink on … well, a screen.

1 reply
  1. Nick Kizirnis
    Nick Kizirnis says:

    Great points here, I think its essential that both clients and the agencies they engage with have a clear understanding of what their new web site will accomplish for their business. This means the agency (and client) needs to clearly understand the target audience (and how it segments), the bsuiness goals (short and long term) and what they want to see the web accomplish for their business.

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