Creating a website to fool your customers

Businesses with no website What are the chances of trusting a very new small business to provide you with essential products and/or services, when you learn that they are working from their backyard, have no information they can send you, AND they have no website. Probably not very high. So how do you present a professional business presence to your customer when you are working from your home office, with a less then zero budget? One of the challenges many new small business owners face is providing the credibility to their customers of a capable, experienced and professional business that can deliver. YOU know you can, but how do you convince everyone else? A professional website is the solution The solution is rather simple. If you invest time and a little money into creating a professional looking website, the rewards for your business can be tenfold your initial investment. With a professional looking website, you CAN create the credible illusion of being a much bigger business than you really are, until you actually become your illusion! Judging a book by its cover We all know that it’s not really fair to judge a book by its cover, but in business, that is exactly what we must do. A company’s website is often the first impression we have of who we are dealing with. The presentation and “look and feel” of a website may be the only tangible evidence we have of the credibility of a business. We judge instantly if: • The business looks professional, • If they are a large or small organisation • If they are able to provide sales assistance and services/products we require • If they appear to be trustworthy • If they have credible contact details • If the information we require is easy to find We also make more unconscious decisions about a business from their website such as: • If we relate on an emotional level to the look and feel of the site • If we feel comfortable dealing with this organisation • If we trust the presentation of the information. Creating the illusion with your website Here are some elements to consider in creating your fabulous online website illusion: Before you begin, do some research. Look at your competitor’s websites. Determine the ones that seem to work on first impression, and which ones don’t. Can you isolate what elements are making a website look successful and big? Some of the more important things to consider before building your website are: • Determine the main goal and purpose of your website • Keep it simple • Keep the layout and navigation consistent • Never lose site of your target audience requirements • Include lots of quality content Next, most importantly - get your site professionally designed. The cost is really worth it. An unprofessional looking website will only cost you money and turn your potential customers away. A great website will help to make you money. Use professional images on your site. A great place to get affordable stock images is at www.istockphoto.com. You can purchase images for use on your website for $1. A well used resource by many web designers! Always have a contact or enquiries form on your site. You can include your contact details here, but if your address gives away the fact that you are working from home, leave it out. Organise a 1300 or a 1800 number to re-direct to your phone. Make sure that your contact email addresses reflect your domain name. If you go to a web address at www.mybusiness.com, and the contact email address is phil@hotmail.com, this is a dead give away that you are dealing with a small business. Here’s another good trick. Have a series of different email addresses for different kinds of enquiries. For example; sales@mybusiness.com for sales enquires, info@mybusiness.com for general enquiries, support@mybusiness.com for help. Testimonials are always a high credibility factor to include – but they need to be real! Even if you have only had one customer (who of course is happy with your products/services), ask them to provide you with a one or two sentence tribute. The easiest way is to write it for them and ask them to approve it. You can feature this on your home page! The illusion is complete With a little thought and creativity, and following a few simple rules, your website illusion is now complete! Your next challenge is to become the illusion. Most successful business people and businesses start with a vision and a goal that is reached by taking risks and projecting a much bigger image of who they really are. Good luck! Carrie Webster Creative Director Web Genesis