I have learned a lot over the years. When I first started out,
the first thing I would do in a meeting is pass out a generic
website planning worksheet. Don’t get me wrong, I still use a
modified version of that original worksheet, and it’s integral
to the planning of the website. But now, I do something else
first. We talk about how the business is running without a
website, or with minimal website involvement.
Thinking about how your business is currently working with no or
minimal website involvement can help you see where a website can
alleviate some of the work, speed up certain processes or just
get you tons more customers.
When I first sat down to meet with two pool cover salesmen, I
had them describe the whole process for me, from how customers
first found out about them to how the customer ended up with the
final cover. From this example alone, I discovered two major
categories to have the website help the business.
Informational
This one is almost a no-brainer. Even the simplest website is,
at core, a source of information. The simplest websites are
often referred to as “brochure sites.” This is, of course,
because the simplest site can (sometimes literally) be nothing
more than an online brochure.
Even this level of simplicity for a website is still better than
the traditional offline brochure. This is primarily because of
the flexibility. Unlike a brochure that is printed up and then
is unchangeable, a website can be tweaked and modified to
correct things that are no longer accurate. Things can be added
to it. It also is not limited to a specific amount of page
space, as a traditional brochure is.
Aside from traditional “brochure sites,” often clients of ours
will have other information that changes fairly frequently that
their customers would like to know. It may be that right now
their customers have no way at all to get this information,
short of calling them on the phone. The information may be
different for each client, it may be the same for each client.
Regardless of the specifics, information that is constantly
changing is one of the single biggest reasons to have a website.
We handle the website Mission Nicaragua, which is for a
missionary couple living in (you guessed it) Nicaragua. With
hundreds of miles between them and their sponsoring
congregation, they needed to be able to update their sponsors
and other interested parties with the latest information and
developments on the mission field. We set up a blog for them,
which is a current very popular method of getting information
out there. Since their intended audience might not be familiar
with the term “blog,” we called it a “newsletter.” But the end
result is the same thing. It can be updated by our clients and
instantly be online.
If there are any pieces of information that are updated
constantly that your customers need to know, you can probably
benefit from this information being put on your website.
Interactive
Customers often need feedback. And with the web, they have come
to expect it, often instantly. From live shipping calculations
to job estimates to chat rooms, web communication is out there
and greatly benefits the customer.
The simplest example of an interactive site is one that has a
feedback form. We offer this to all of our clients. It’s better
than a simple email link because the email address can’t be
stolen by spammers. Also, the information can be formatted and
customized into some standard form that’s easier for the final
recipient to review. We let any clients that want it have one of
these forms on their contact page.
A good example of this is on a site we do the webmastering for,
UR Special. In addition to a normal feedback form, they have a
form specifically for volunteers, where the volunteers can go
through and check the items they’re interested in volunteering
for. This information is then formatted to be easier to read
before it’s sent to the UR Special staff.
Another interactive item is a virtual tour. With today’s web
technology, one of the things that you can do is actually
immerse your customers in an environment. We have a number of
sites that use virtual tours. One of note is a local arcade
called Cactus Jack’s. You can get a feel for how big Cactus
Jack’s is through their virtual tour. You can turn around and
even zoom in on specific arcade games.
Finally, an obvious level of interactivity is involved in a
shopping cart. The total is added up as soon as you’re ready to
check out. Shipping is generally calculated immediately. Most
people are now familiar with this type of technology.
If there’s any information that your customers call for that you
sit down with a price sheet or some sort of data and calculate,
you can make it automated online. Even if the prices or data
change fairly constantly, you can still update that data on your
website, so that customers see the most up to date calculations.
This is great for estimates, but you often want to put a
disclaimer that the prices are only unofficial estimates.
Naturally, the exact ways in which a website can be used for
your company will differ from company to company. It often helps
to get someone who is more familiar with the web but an outsider
as far as your company is concerned. Describe your typical
business practices to them. They should be able to pick out
areas in which your website can help your business become more
accessible and more efficient.