You’d Better Have a Great Web Site
Anything less could kill your business
As
you might imagine, I look at many web sites. A few are really amazing, some are
mediocre, and many are plain awful. The sad fact is that there are still
company owners and community leaders who just don't get it.
At
Brand Acceleration, we work in the professional industries of economic
development, architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC). These are
industries in which a web site can mean the difference between advancing toward
a project win and being taken off the consideration list. We've made of point
of studying how target visitors such as higher education administrators and
site selection consultants interface with a web site, and the results will
really open your eyes.
Visitors to AEC web sites
When
an education or healthcare administrator visits the web site for an
architecture firm, for example, he or she is essentially looking for the firm’s
portfolio and the resumes of the studio directors. Just as with a resume, the
firm’s web site must convince a visitor that the studio team has the talent and
experience to create a beautiful and functional space.
A
web site which is poorly structured, unprofessionally written, lacks
functionality, and is ugly is likely to knock the firm off the consideration
list. Sadly, the company may have a very talented team of architects who could
do a great job.
Visitors to Economic
Development web sites
In
this arena, audiences such as site selection consultants and c-suite executives
are looking for a well-thought-out package of information. If they can't find
it, they may just leave and take the community off the list.
Assuming
the community survives the critical first-round look and makes it to short-list
status; it may now have to withstand review by company managers and a trailing
spouse. I've heard more than one story about a spouse who looked at a community
web site just to say, "I'm not moving to that ugly place." When you
consider the many thousands or even millions of dollars communities spend each
year, it's a shame to lose a deal because its web site stinks.
Similar
to a storefront window, a web site may be a prospects first exposure to your
community of company. If the display in your window, your web site, is not
captivating, beautiful, and informative, the prospect may walk right by and
shop somewhere else.
I’d
love to hear from you. Feel free to share your thoughts and personal
experiences below.
Have a
great week,
Jim Walton
CEO
Brand Acceleration, Inc.
Branding // Marketing Communications // Public
Relations
Indianapolis: 317.536.6255
Charlotte: 704:230:0394
Atlanta: 404.474.7980
Fax: 317.222.1425
Cell: 317.523.7380
Brand
Acceleration is a full-service marketing communications, brand management and
public relations firm with a focus on economic development, architecture,
engineering and construction.
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