KEEP IT SIMPLE
Chapter 3
BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SELLS
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Sites don’t need to be flashy. When designing your site, keep your target audience in mind.
Use bandwidth-consuming audio and video judiciously. Don’t put something up just because
it wows you; it needs to wow your customers as well. And that wow shouldn’t be restricted to
design—it should encompass site functionality as well.
You want to create a site that’s enjoyable for visitors to browse. Design your pages to allow
customers to easily find what they’re looking for. Users get bored and move on when they
have to search through pages and pages of information to find what they need.
Don’t clutter up your web pages. Some web entrepreneurs find that offering fewer products
with more detailed descriptions translates into higher sales. For others, success comes from
offering lots of products but categorizing and displaying them in a way that enhances the cus-
tomer experience.
A WAY WITH WORDS
We all know words matter. And on the web, they matter even more. If your web copy is work-
ing, it will improve your search engine rankings, bring in (and retain) customers, and prompt
visitors to pick up the phone so you can make the sale. To start, make sure you’re not a jargon
offender (that is, you shouldn’t be so immersed in your own world that you can’t say what you
mean in plain English). Keep the words on your site clear of overly technical terms and industry
jargon that only a small percentage of your prospective customers could possibly understand.
Headlines are often the first thing site visitors see, and good ones will grab your visitors’
attention, compel people to read more and help establish a relationship between site visitors
and your business. Try highlighting some problems your audience faces, and stress the main
benefits of how your product or service can help them solve these challenges.
Good content gives users reasons to linger and absorb more of what you’re offering. There are
many ways to introduce this content. Don’t worry if you’re not a great writer. Reach out to
friends, family members or colleagues for help. Try hiring an intern. There are plenty of col-
lege (or even high school) students majoring in English, advertising, marketing or journalism
who would be eager to gain real-life experience.
Your web copy should be snappy and useful, and provide information readers can’t easily find
elsewhere. Are you an accountant? Put up a list of the “10 Dumbest Tax Mistakes.” An electri-
cian could post a list of dangerous goofs made by do-it-yourselfers. A day-care provider could
list the “Top 10 Books for Kids” or “This Year’s Best Educational Toys.”
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