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3 Questions to Ask Before Building Your Website

2/16/2017

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If you're thinking about building a website for your business – or revising your current one – there are some questions you should ask yourself first.

I'm not talking about things like, "What's my budget?" or "Who should design it?" Those questions are definitely important, but they should come after you've considered some other issues.

Here are 3 questions to ask before you begin your site design. Having answers to these will make both the process and the resulting site much better.
Picture
Banner vector designed by Freepik

1. Who is the website for?

Here's a hint: It's not for you.

​Yes, your website is a key tool that helps your business reach your audience, but who is that audience? Who are your ideal visitors or "buyer personas"?

Ideally, you'll have a very specific answer to this question.

For instance, let's say you own a fitness studio in Detroit. You might determine, "Our ideal client is a woman between the ages of 30-60 who lives in the greater Detroit metropolitan area and has a household income of $60,000 or more. She has a college education and is employed part- or full-time. She has a family, is active in her community, and is concerned about fitness and health. She's struggling to fit an exercise routine into her busy schedule."

It's certainly possible that you'll have more than one type of ideal client. The key here is to understand very clearly:
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  • Who your target(s) is/are
  • What his or her problems are
  • How your business provides solutions to those problems, and
  • How your site will clearly present your solutions​.

2. How will your website help new prospects? 

Most of your visitors – as many as 96%, according to KISSmetrics – will not be ready to buy your products or services. They'll just be doing research.

​If you're lucky, they'll have recognized that they have a need or problem and that your business might be able to help. They'll be checking out your site – as well as your competitors' – to see who provides the best solutions.

So to set your business apart, you need to provide good, solid information. Not just prices.


Too many websites focus on the company, not the customer. Don't let yours be one of them.

Step back and ask yourself:
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  • "What can I provide for viewers that will be of real value – and get them to come back?"
  • "What would show them that we understand their pain points?" 
  • "What would get them to take the next step toward becoming a customer?"

The "something" you provide might be a checklist, a free assessment, a whitepaper on a relevant topic, etc. In exchange, you can ask for their name and email address – and now you have something of value, too, that you can use to share additional information about your company.

3. What action do you want your visitors to take?

Do you want them to buy something from your store? Do you want them to contact you by phone or email? Or do you want them to sign up for your e-newsletter? Whatever your goal, your call-to-action, or CTA, needs to be clear and easy to find on your website.

(Don't forget that it needs to be quick and easy to use, too. Tiny buttons don't work well on mobile phones, and long forms make viewers frustrated and leave.)

​It's possible you'll have more than one CTA. For instance, your ultimate goal might be to get visitors to buy something, but as described above, you might ask for their email address in exchange for downloading your whitepaper, checklist or reference guide. 

​Above all, don't confuse your visitors by asking them to do too much. If you're going to have multiple calls-to-action on one page, separate them and make the differences clear.



What other tips or recommendations do you have for improving the web design process? Leave a comment below.
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Create free, secure forms for your website with JotForm

2/4/2017

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JotForm is an online tool that allows you to create and customize fillable forms for your website. With thousands of pre-designed templates – like job applications, polls, marketing surveys and much more – and a variety of themes to choose from, you can be up and running in minutes. 


​Why would you need this? 

JotForm logo
If you use a website creation tool such as Weebly, Squarespace or WordPress for your site, you have pretty easy options for creating a form, but collecting data can be cumbersome – and if you don't have an SSL certificate, you're putting user data at risk.

Plus, with basic forms in Weebly and Squarespace, you don't have the option of allowing users to upload a file. If you want people to be able to upload a photo, resumé or document, you're stuck unless you install (and probably pay for) an app. 

With JotForm, once you sign up for a free account, create a form (using a plain or pre-designed theme) and connect it to your website, users are sent to a secure page to fill out information which gets logged into your JotForm account. You'll get an email when someone fills out the form, too, so you'll know right away when you receive a submission.
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You can provide a thank you message immediately upon submission of the form or else take people back to a page on your website. Want to send an immediate email follow-up? You can do that, too, as well as connect your data with other apps such as PayPal, Dropbox, Google Spreadsheets, MailChimp, SalesForce and more.
JotForm example
Like many online services, JotForm is a freemium, which means that you can use the basic services for free and then upgrade if you need more data storage, forms or reports. A free account offers up to 5 different form templates, 100 submissions per month, storage of up to 500 forms and unlimited fields within forms. Need more forms or storage space? Plans start at $19 per month. 

I've heard of a few issues with the size of forms and buttons on mobile devices, but for the most part, users seem really happy with the options and third party integrations available with this tool. 

Have you used JotForm or another form app for your website? Leave a comment below!


Note: 
Wise Penny has no affiliation with JotForm – we're just spreading the word on free resources for marketing teams and other businesses.
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    Author

    Natalie Bolton is a Boulder County-based marketing professional who helps businesses 
    improve their websites and reach their goals. 

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