Your Web Page's Goal

By Ross Johnson

Believe it or not, many websites out there don't have any real purpose. Companies by the thousands are throwing up sites simply because "you should" and everyone else has one. However, this really is a waste of money. If you don't have a reason to have a website, people will not have a reason to read it.

At the heart of it all, companies want a website to help increase business and sales. However, 10 pages of drab information isn't going to attract any users. At best, it is a place for people searching through google to pick up the phone number instead of finding it in the yellowpages.

This is why it is important to have a goal for a website, because then you can highlight the information that you want your users to leave the site knowing, and you can give them a reason for visiting the site period.

Lets think about a general website for a plumber. Someone stumbling across the website will doubtfully read about how you strive to always be on time, and have ten years of experience. They want your number, thats it.

How can we turn this into an incentive? What is our goal?

Lets expand on the simple goal stated earlier of trying to increase sales; We want to establish the plumber as an expert in his field, and give people a reason for accessing the site.

The front page should draw users in, three bullet points that state:

• Poor plumbing repair caused over a million dollars with of damages in the last year!
• We us, plumbing call-backs while rare, are 100% free!
• We provide do it yourself repairs for handy men!

This achives several goals. Bullet points are easy to scan, so we can rest assured that the user will probably at least get the just of what we are trying to communicate. The first two bullet points establish that a plumber is not just a plumber, and that you can be sure if you hire our plumber that it will be done right or it is free. Any plumber can say they never mess up, but that is not putting your money where your mouth is, and no one will believe it. The last bullet provides reason to come back, and to keep reading.

By providing basic DIY articles, you will get return visitors to your site, new visitors looking for DIY information, and it shows that the plumber really knows what he is talking about.

We could take the goal a step further, and add a tag that says "View our Testimonials page for free printable coupons!" Then add the testimonial onto the coupon itself. This not only gets viewers reading your customers rant and rave, but it is further incentive for them to go with you rather than Joe Plumber with 10 pages of "We strive to make you happy!" type copy.