An improved understanding of your customers will go a long way in helping
you tailor your site to to increase profits.
So you’re starting your own business… You’ve decided upon a catchy name, covered
the legal paperwork, and now you’re ready to build your very own company Website –
your link to the world! These are exciting times, no doubt!
But where do you start? You know what services you have to offer, but maybe you’re
not entirely sure of how to list them on the Web. You play with the information you
want to communicate to your potential customers, rearranging it all like a giant
jigsaw puzzle. Finally, you find a layout that makes sense…
OR DOES IT?
Don’t Forget Your Main Ingredient!
Many businesses fail for one reason: They never asked their potential customers what they wanted. Sure,
customers are not experts at designing your site, but they sure have a lot of useful input to offer you.
Your Website may be one of your primary means of interaction with your clientele; you want to be sure a
visit to your site is not reminiscent of a visit to the dentist for a root canal. You want your visitors
to feel welcome at your site, confidently know how to find their way around --“make themselves at home”--
and leave feeling like you can’t wait to see them again!
Sounds nice, but how do you go about doing this? The first step is getting to know who your
clientele will be. Your “users” should be the biggest role in some of your decisions. After all,
they are the ones who will be paying you. You’ll want to know about their typical behaviors,
attitudes, beliefs; what stresses them out? From where will they access your Website? Environmental
factors play as large a role as individual differences in the people themselves. You can find
all of these things out by doing some homework on your competitors, similar services that are
offered, profiling your potential clientele (via questionnaires, interviews, observations),
and by figuring out how they achieve their goals in a particular task scenario, a.k.a. contextual
task analysis.
Adding some science to the mix, “What can your users handle?” in terms of memory, does your site
contain too much information, thus confusing your users or scaring them off? There are many factors
that tie in, and to have a great Website, you must pay attention to them. Once you know what your
users need and want, you can use that information to design a site that they will enjoy, and with
the right recipe, crave to come back to. It’s all very possible, if you just follow the necessary
steps. Just as you may not have known what to name you business without knowing the ingredients
(e.g., services you’ll offer, atmosphere you wish to create, etc.), you can not easily design a
successful Website without knowing what people will want and use.
How Much Will This Cost Me?
Hmm. Consider how much it will cost if you don’t do it! It could mean the difference between your
overall success and failure on the Web. The amount it costs to assess the requirements for your
Website varies, depending on how in depth you’d like to take it, and how much work you have already
done.
For example, starting from scratch will almost always be a lot less expensive. Especially since
there will not be any sunken costs. If you are already operating a site, however, it may still be
good to have what’s called an Expert Evaluation performed on your site, to ensure it’s the most
efficient, enjoyable, and intuitive site it can be. Expert Evaluations are not as expensive
(generally a few hundred dollars) as a fully done User-Centered Design process (ranging from a
few hundred to a couple thousand, depending on the scope of your site), but they can help to get
you back on the right track, and lure in more consumers.
Although the User-Centered Design process can be a large upfront cost for your business, consider
it one of the best investments you can make for your company’s future. It is much easier to do it
right the first time, rather than try to patch up your mistakes down the road. Considering the recipe
analogy, it’s much easier to start a recipe from scratch than it is to try to adjust it with various
spices in the middle of the process. Plus, the returns on your investment should be very profitable.
Many companies find that they will get back what they spent anywhere from two-fold, to 300%! The
possibilities are endless.
If you don’t do a thing about it, you can’t expect a professional site to result. You may make it
visually appealing, but there is much more beneath the surface that your competitors may not have
looked at, to make it a superb Website. Take a moment to think about a Website you have used in the
past that really frustrated you. How long ago was that? Chances are, you won’t return to it, and you
probably won’t forget how difficult it was to use. Don’t make the same mistake!
eVerity offers these services, and we’re truly interested in your success! Your success defines our
success. If you’d like to set up a free consultation, contact your account manager. In the meantime,
try to put yourself in the shoes of your clientele… Who are you? What do you want?
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