Your website is the face of your organization.
The first contact with a potential customer is often through your website. An effective website is appealing and easy to navigate. You know that—you’ve been on sites that drove you crazy.
You do not need a website if…
- You don’t want your company to grow.
- You don’t want to boost sales or increase your market share.
- You prefer answering the same questions over and over again via time-consuming phone calls and email.
- You don’t mind being judged as unprofessional or lacking credibility.
- You prefer spending money on advertising such as newspaper and magazine.
Your documents make a statement.
Have you ever been handed a form to fill out that’s obviously been copied and re-copied until it’s faded and crooked? Me, too. Makes me feel like if the company doesn’t care about their details, they are not going to care about mine.
To make a good impression, you need professional documents. These may include:
Business cards
It has been standard practice that if you have a business, you must have business cards. They are convenient for networking and sharing information, even if you have an online business. The rise of social media, however, has caused some to rethink the practice. The question to ask yourself is: When a potential client meets you, will they remember to look you up later on social media? If not, be ready to hand them a card.
Brochure/rack card/marketing materials
Your website acts like an online brochure, but your business/organization may benefit by having your awesomeness in print.
Presentation materials
Perhaps you need to submit a proposal to a client or financial institution. Or you must present your business model to the local planning commission. When you consider the reader of these documents through effective design and formatting, you appear professional and credible. That ultimately helps make your case.
Forms
Applications, questionnaires, and other forms should be easy to complete, whether on paper or online.
Long documents
Handbooks, business plans, and other long documents need to be clearly laid out to be effective. Images, graphs, charts, and other visuals improve comprehension and make it easier for the user to find the information they’re looking for.
Audience analysis
To be effective, your website can’t be all about you—it’s about how you can help your client. We will:
- Determine your audience
- Write a value statement (whom you serve, how you help)
- Evaluate your logo
- Select a color scheme
Content creation
Your content must meet the needs and questions of your audience (not merely tell the world how great you are). We will:
- Write content for your specific audience that is relevant, concise, and error-free
- Select appropriate visuals
- Write content to improve SEO (search engine optimization)
User experience
Poorly designed efforts are worse than none at all. We will:
- Determine site navigation
- Make sure the content is easy to read
- Create calls to action
- Select plug-ins for increased functionality