Our Approach to Web Design

So, you've decided that it's time to rethink your current web site, and you're looking around for a company that can help you strategically plan and build a web site that will increase your company's profits and make your life easier by eliminating the need for a web designer.

You've done some reasearch, and you've found companies that offer cheap web sites, but they have no idea how to design them for high performance leads and sales generation. These companies just focus on making your site "pretty", and aren't aware of high-ROI (high return on investment) design factors that will boost your company's profits and your search engine ranking.

You've also seen many companies that offer a do-it-yourself web site that looks terrible, and even though they allow you to make your own updates, the web site looks so plain and cookie-cutter that it falls way short of the mark, and may even hurt your chances online. There is no effort to match your web site to your company's online strategy, and the site is not designed for generating high profits.

The difference between our company, and other web design companies is that we are an online marketing firm that specializes in results. We provide everything that other web design companies offer, but with an emphasis on reaching your online goals.

Our web sites are specifically designed for high-ROI so that they can generage conversions (sales, leads, etc). While we take pride in getting you results online, our web sites are also beautifully designed by our highly talented web designers and programmers, to give you that polished Fortune 500 look that your clients and business partners love to see when they buy products and services online.

Our goal when we build your web site is to increase your profit margin, and carve out a larger market share for your company. We start the process by considering the following 4 factors:

1. Client Objectives/ Vision For the Site.

   Every web site has objectives and goals--a reason for being, if you will. Most small companies build web sites without a taking the time to develop a detailed strategy for their web site, such as:

   • identifying primary and secondary audiences (i.e. new clients, return clients, partners, vendors, etc)
   • stating goals and objectives for the site (i.e. establish credibility, generate sales, educate clients, provide customer support, etc.)
   • detailing the types of desired conversions (i.e. leads, sales, memberships, etc)

   This is a mistake, because every single thing that goes on the web site either supports or hinders the achievement of the web site's goals. If you don't take the time to create a clear strategy, then it becomes difficult to fine-tune the site for optimum performance.

   Nobody knows your business better than you do, and while we have experience building high-profit web sites in many different industries, we certainly need your help to get to know all the nuances of your particular business and clientelle as it pertains to your geographic target market. The more we know about what you do and what your clients want and need, the better we can help you build a custom site that will get you the best possible results, and make sure the web site accurately reflects the direction in which you want to take your business.

2. Target Market.

   Before we begin to build a web site, the first thing we do is identify your target market. We attempt to create a clear and detailed client profile, so that all marketing on and off the web site will be geared 100% to attracting the right kind of clients for your business, and turning away the wrong kinds of clients. Many businesses have an informal understanding of their clients, but never take the time to do a true market analysis to identify what their clients truly want, need, like and dislike.

   More importantly, many companies try to attract "everybody" as a client instead of being more selective and only taking on ideal clients. The problem with this approach is that clients that aren't right for your business waste your time, your money, and your energy. That's why it's best to be very selective about which clients you wish to serve, and make sure that you're super clear about what your ideal clients are all about, so you can taylor your marketing specifically to them.

   For example, here's a small clip out of our ideal client profile to give you an idea of how we narrow down our selection: "our ideal clients are small and medium size business owners / entrepreneurs who are not technically savvy, are easy and fun to work with, are doers rather than talkers, have the money to work with us, are open to new ideas and treat us with respect..." That's a small portion of our ideal client profile, but you can see how quickly it paints a picture. It helps us identify which clients are good for us , and which are not.

   Of course, not all of our clients fit this profile exactly, and sometime we make exceptions, because the profile is just a guideline that helps us pick clients that will help us grow our business. A good analogy to clarify this point is that not all vehicles need the same kind of fuel. If you have a Ferrari, it's not a good idea to put coarse diesel fuel into it, just like a truck will not function properly on high-grade refined fuel that a Ferrari uses.

   Just like vehicles, companies need the right kind of fuel to run efficiently. One company's ideal client is another company's nightmare client. It's best to stick to the right kinds of clients for your business, and when new clients don't fit the profile, they can be easily referred to other companies that would be a better fit for them. This practice can keep your business profitable and easy to run, and ensure that your ideal clients get the best possible service.

3. Industry Norms.

   This element is pretty straight-forward and self-evident, but merits a closer look before developing a web site. Every industry has a general style to which most companies within the industry adhere to online. For example, law firms generally seek a very conservative look that is reflected by everything from the font-family used, to the color-scheme applied to the web site, while an entertainment company might have a loud fast-moving web site with lots of bells and whistles. It is important to be aware of your online market's general style, and most especially of the industry leaders who serve as trend-setters. This will ensure that your target market will view your company as a credible provider and allow you to achieve your online goals more easily.

4. High Return on Investment.

   This is arguably the most important aspect of a web site, because when the decision is made to invest in a web site, there is generally an expectation of some sort of result. As such, it is important to measure the success of the project using some form of quantifiable information so as to ensure that the investment is paying off. In most cases, our clients are for-profit businesses whose primary focus is on the profitability of their web sites, so the best way to track their return on investment is by comparing the cost of building the web site to the proits generated by the web site. In many cases, our web sites pay for themselves very quickly especially when combined with our online marketing programs, and once the site has paid for itself the rest is clean profit.

   A company's web site can serve many functions, and when it's built for profit, it can be likened to a storefront. Much like the physical storefront a web site needs to be setup to inspire its prospective clients to do business with the company. Today's new field of retail science has seen retail companies pay millions of dollars to those who can successfully plan a profitable setup for their stores. When decisions are made about store layouts, nothing is left to chance. Everything from lighting, to the space between aisles is carefully planned to maximize sales and profits.

   If a physical store is so carefully planned for maximum profits, it stands to reason that a web site should be just as carefully designed to extract as much profit from every transaction. This is true especially because an online client is harder to keep on your site than a person who walks into a physical store. It is a simple matter of time invested. A client who drives to the store is more likely to stay stay and buy than a client that can instantly leave your site and visit another store with the click of a mouse. Regrettably, most small businesses and many medium size businesses are not aware of how to design and implement a high-profit web site, so they commission a cheap web site and call it a day, not realizing how huge a price they pay in lost opportunity.

After dealing with the above four factors (objectives, target market, industry norms, and return on investment), it is time to move onto the web site mockups. This is when we begin forming the actual look of your site. Once we create a design that the client approves, we begin developing the actual web site.

Here's an overview of our web site creation process:

1. Detail web site objectives. We determine the reason why you are building a new web site (or redoing an existing web site), and establish criteria by which the success of the web site will be measured.
2. Identify primary and secondary audiences. Once we have a clear idea of for whom the web site is being developed, we build the site with this group’s needs and expectations in mind. Every element that is added to the web site must actively speak to the target market, and support the overall goals and objectives of the web site.
3. Create an online strategy. When our clients order our online marketing strategy services in addition to our web design and development services we work closely with them to develop the right online marketing strategy for their business. We analyze existing marketing, and brainstorm potential improvements.

Here are some examples of what we consider when we evaluate a web site's online strategy:

• Creating and establishing brand identity and loyalty.
• Evaluating new and existing ways of advertising the company's products and services online.
• Finding new ways of increasing market-share when selling products and services online.
• Brainstorming better ways to educate clients online about the company's products and services.
• Streamlining online customer service.
• Increasing online conversion rates.
• Finding new ways to upsell and cross-sell products and services.
• Increasing customer retention.
• Ensuring that the site is search engine friendly.
• Motivating more repeat traffic by visitors.
• Converting repeat traffic into more transactions, and bigger transactions.
• Inspire clients to participate in permission marketing.
• Find ways of implementing viral marketing.
• Allow visitors to invite friends and recommend the web site.
• Make the site as "sticky" as possible.
• Find ways to make the site more engaging.
• Increase conversion rates on landing pages.


4. Analyze top competitors. We look at the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s online competitors, and try to position the company for a higher level of success. With the information we gather from the competition, we develop a plan to turn the company's weaknesses into strengths, and capitalize on competitor weaknesses. Some of the factors that we look for are targeted keywords, web design best practices, clean code, calls to action, innovative elements, download time, viral marketing techniques, relevant content, persuasive content, and use of permission marketing. The data we gather serves the client in two ways: it helps the development team be more efficient in building the web site, and it gives us a better idea of how to position your web site for success.
5. Storyboarding the web site.
   Think of a storyboard as a web site’s blue print. More time will go into planning the web site than the actual building of the web site. A good plan will ensure that the project will be finished on time, and within budget.
6. Content creation.
   We suggest that the initial content be developed by your own company, because nobody knows your company better than you do. The editing and refining of content for increased persuasiveness and search engine friendliness can be done by our copywriters and editors for an additional cost. In the event that a company is not able to create its own content we have talented copywriters that will research a company and its services and come up with compelling content to ensure the web site's success.

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Click on this phone number 800.280.7931 to speak with a Web Design Expert today! Our small business web design experts are ready to help you with everything you need to create a high-ROI web site. Operators are standing by for your call. We look forward to explaining to you how our services can grow your business and increase your sales.

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