Category Archives: THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

Considerations and Decisions For Web Site Owners

Are You On a Wild Goose Chase?

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Building your own site for your business can indeed become a Wild Goose Chase. I know what you are thinking, because I’ve heard it all so many times …..

  • “I’ll just download one of those free handy-dandy page-builder editors, point and click, drag and drop, and have my site up and running in no time.”
  • “My nephew says he can make me a website, no problem.”
  • “I can get the kid next door to make it, High School students these days know all about HTML coding, and they work cheap!”

Many weeks later, after much teeth grinding and three bottles of Excedrin Extra Strength, you realize that your web site just does not measure up to your expectations and you are wondering where you could have gone wrong. Why do the photos all look a bit fuzzy, or why is the text running off the end of the page in Internet Explorer, and how the heck do you make one of those forms that send data to your email box, you plugged in the form code, why won’t it send? Your nephew loves the little animated dancing chicken he put by your email link and the rippling lake applet effect on your home page, but somehow you wonder why it just does not have that polished professional look you had envisioned.

Don’t despair, you are not alone. It might have been a noble and worthwhile effort to cut the hefty price tag that came with hiring a developer. But was the wasted time really worth it?

CONSIDER THE PLIGHT OF my friend Jason (named changed to protect the innocent). Jason is an amazingly talented certified Computer Technician and Network Engineer who owns his own business. He can usually expect to net over $200 a day. When it comes to the Internet and technology, it is safe to say that Jason is no dummy, so he was fairly confident that he could build his own business site and he set about doing just that. Six weeks later he wondered what had possessed him.

In the hours he lost while struggling with the project he had lost over $3500.00 in revenue and still did not have a workable site up and running. I have to admit that he had done a credible job with the photos and content, although the color scheme (gray and blue) left a bit to be desired and reminded me of the ill fated war-between-the-states, or “the war of Yankee Aggression” as we here in the south are more apt to call it. And more importantly, he was having trouble making all the interactive features of his on-line shopping cart work properly and he had yet to figure out how to connect the cart to his merchant account.

The bottom line is Jason could have just concentrated on doing what he does so magnificently, repairing and selling computers and hired a web developer to take care of his site project. Even though there was a sizable fee involved with outsourcing the job, the fee was not nearly as much as he lost in productivity while attempting to do the project himself.

As I say on my web site…..
“You need to ask yourself this: Is Web development your forte? Or is it more important for you to focus on running your business? Time spent on projects that does not produce results. is time wasted. “

Don’t chase that Wild Goose. Having a professional Web designer do the work for you is money well spent.

Wanna Fly?

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“Wanna fly, you got to give up the (stuff) that weights you down.” ~Toni Morrison

Naturally it is your goal that your web site soars to magnificent heights with glorious raves from all your visitors. How do you accomplish that? What is it that makes a web site hit a home run with its audience?

And the strangest question of all …. How can two web sites, so very different in appearance, one stark and photoless, the other silly, loud, and eye-catching… both be popular award winning designs?

    

The answer lies in their individual appeal to their target audiences’ needs and expectations. People don’t go to Google.com expecting eye-candy. Rather they want to be in and out quickly and easily with the info they came to get. Fast and simple, no frills, no distractions, just show me the money. On the other hand visitors who show up at Disney.com are there to slowly and joyously soak up the sunshine. They expect to be entertained, even wowed. And they know that they might even be required to download a few extra plugins to do that.

Now you are wondering just what all this has to do with “giving up the stuff that weights you down”. Well so many times I see clients who come to me with a preset notion of what the look and feel for their site should be. For example, you want your web site to be all pink and pastels because those are your favorite colors. But you are selling electronic equipment. I would tell you that you need to “give up stuff that is weighting you down”. For your web site to “fly”, you will need to appeal to your customers, many of who will not exactly feel comfortable with a lot of pink fluff. Now if you were selling baby clothes or “girly tee shirts” (as does one of my clients) , then you would be right on target with your pink.

Color choices are not the only “stuff” that might weight you down. An attorney, a doctor, or even a professor would need to forgo flashy gadgetry on a site and stick to something serious, and inspiring professionality. A site selling educational toys, however, would better appeal to the young toddler’s imagination with bright colors, funny images, games, even a silly sound or two.

It is great if we can manage to match your site to your personality, but more importantly it is essential to match that of your target audience.