Most web designers have a basic idea about business, but they don’t know much about your business. They don’t know what’s important to your customers. If your site is going to be successful, you need to make sure that the people building it understand your business and know exactly why people come to your site.
Why are you here?
Check out a few auto recyclers’ web sites. Why do you think visitors came to these sites? To buy a part, right? How prominent is the search-for-parts box on the home page? Is it even on the homepage?
Too often I have had to click around looking for the tool that 98% of people visiting the site have come to use.
If you don’t make it simple for potential customers to do what they came to do, they will click to the next site. Money that should have been yours is gone forever because your designer didn’t think hard enough about WHY people come to your site and WHAT they need to do there.
Connecting Site Design and Business Goals
Going beyond the basics, the smartest web designers will think about how the business works and what COULD be on the site to make transactions happen.
All recyclers sell used parts on their websites. Right now, however, the smartest auto recyclers are using their websites to BUY cars.
Just by putting the offer to buy on the site, they get the occasional juicy bit of inventory at a bargain price. Your web designer likely won’t even think about strategies like that one unless he or she takes the time to understand your business.
Getting the Most from Your Business Website
I don’t design or sell web design services, but I frequently host calls with entrepreneurs and their web designers and developers to set clear expectations for web design projects, reconcile the unique selling proposition with the web site, and verify the SEO capabilities of the designer.
Because I have been through the web design process for many of my ventures, I can help you get the best work from your web design team and increase your chances of getting a site that uses SEO best practices and contributes substantially to your bottom line.
If your web site could produce more sales, email me your URL and I will give you a free report showing your site’s SEO score and giving you some specific ways to make your site work harder for your business.
Remember only you can make business great!
Ron Sturgeon, founder of Mr. Mission Possible small business consulting, combines over 35 years of entrepreneurship with an extensive resume in consulting, speaking, and business writing, with 3 books published and 2 more expected in 2012.
A business owner since age 17, Ron sold his chain of salvage yards to Ford Motor Company in 1999, and his innovations in database-driven direct marketing have been profiled in Inc. Magazine. After the repurchase of Greenleaf Auto Recyclers from Ford and sale to Schnitzer Industries, Ron is now owner of the DFW Elite Auto suite of businesses and a successful real estate investor.
As a consultant and peer benchmarking leader, Ron shares his expertise in strategic planning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share, and more in his signature plain-spoken style, providing field-proven, high-profit best practices well ahead of the business news curve.
Ron is a web expert, but he is also an expert in helping all types of small businesses become more successful and more profitable. He has helped owners in industries from restaurants to law firms with a wide variety of business issues, including sales, promotion, production, financial measures, business strategy, and planning for start ups. Whatever your unique challenges, Ron can help you.
To inquire about peer benchmarking, consultations, or keynote speaking, contact Ron by calling 817-834-3625, by emailing rons@MrMissionPossible.com, by mailing 5940 Eden, Haltom City, TX 76117, or online at Mr. Mission Possible.
