What Are People Looking for in a Website?
Q: I’m going to build my personal website after the holidays and want to know what people are really looking for when they reach a website. I want to be authentic but professional.
A: I’d say people are always looking for different things and you need to define the purpose of your website before you decide what you need to include. People go online for all kinds of things and the first and foremost thing is:
- Information: People want instructions, facts and news on all kinds of topics. You can begin your search on what they are looking for at WordTracker — which tells you how frequently people search the Internet on various topics.
The also go to (in no particular order…and these are very general categories…there are so many specific things people do online):
- Buy Products: Yes! Plenty of of people go online to buy stuff.
- Make Connections with Other People: I don’t necessarily mean for dating (but that’s definitely big), but just to interact with other people who share the same interests, hobbies and goals. This can include forums, chat rooms and other interactive mediums.
- Daily Tasks: They do their banking and log-in to other accounts that help them manage their lives easier.
Okay, so I’ve made four major Internet-usage categories (if you want specific stats and numbers, you may want to review the information found at Internet.com)…but you, by all means, don’t need to fulfill all these things in one website. In fact, I wouldn’t try to fulfill them all in one website at all.
For example, if you’re trying to sell a product, you may not want to distract your visitors with free information or a message board forum. You’ll want to keep your site focused on your product. If you do want to provide free information and an interactive community, you’ll probably want to develop a separate site. But please, don’t let the overwhelm you, take it one step at a time and one website at a time.
So, first and foremost, you need to decide the PURPOSE of your site and that will guide you to create the appropriate site.
Once You Know Your Site’s Purpose – Here’s Some Tips for a Great Website
A. Your website needs to be pleasing to the eye
This doesn’t mean you need to go out and spend thousands of dollars on a web designer (but you can if you want to) or hire someone to design some fancy Flash graphics for you. If you keep the following tips in mind, you should have no trouble creating an eye-pleasing website:
2. Have a consistent theme throughout your website. It’s not only hard on the eyes when the theme is constantly changing, it’s also confusing for your visitors.
B. Have a Solid Navigation Structure
Your website visitors need to be able to find their way around or they will leave in a hurry. Be sure to:
2. Have your contact information easily available on each page of your website.
3. Provide other important policy information like “shipping & returns”, “hours of operations”, “privacy policy”, etc.
You may have some pretty graphics to show off, but if your pages aren’t fast loading, your visitors will click elsewhere. If you have a number of graphics you want to include, split the graphics into a few pages.
Offering something free will help drive traffic to any website. This can be free information, a free ebook, a free sample, a free information ezine, free shipping…whatever. Offer something of value, outside your sales pitch and visitors will return for more. They’ll even tell their friends about it.
Note: But as mentioned above, many of your freebies will likely be found on a separate website that will serve as a lead-generator for your product site.
E. Make Sure Your Website Copy is Well-Written
It’s true that most people don’t do a lot of reading on the Internet when they’re surfing. But you can bet that when they’re ready to buy or consider a business opportunity, they are going to be reading what you have to say. The surfers aren’t that important to you.
Try message boards, chat rooms, ability to leave comments or product reviews. People like to have a place to offer their opinions and share information. Have contests, where people can come back often and enter. Make your visitors feel like they are a part of your site, not just a silent observer.
Join me as a Copywriting Sweetie student to learn how to write sales-producing copy.
About: Alice Seba
Alice Seba earns a full-time online income as an entrepreneur and loves to help others achieve the same. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from the written word, she co-owns both a ghostwriting service and a private label content business. To get more tips for your content marketing, visit Contentrix.com - your free resource with plenty of tips and strategies.Freebies
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