Building Productive Websites

These days web designers are mainly in a stew with creating beautiful websites for their clients. They want their websites to be pixel-perfect, striking, and works of art. They don’t ponder much into a website after they hand it over to the client. If this is your ethos, you’re dropping money on the table.

In short, you should be crafting websites that make your clients more money. By thinking like a business man you’ll be able to charge a much higher hourly rate. This mindset starts by viewing your websites as more than just a pretty face.

Business owners are more concerned about the statistics of their website. How many clicks did they get this month? Is that more than last month?

Did anyone bought something? How many people left without buying? Why so !…?

To a business owner, traffic is priceless . They work tough to get people to visit their site so they want them to stay and buy something.

If you understand this and can help your clients make more sales, you’ll be seen as a savvy. You’ll have more referrals than you know what to do with and you’ll be able to increase your rates.

The first step in getting a website visitor to remain on a website is creating a website that passes the 5-second test.

The 5-Second Test

Most visitors will come to a website, give it a quick glance and, if nothing captures their attention, they’ll pres the “back” button and vanish back to Google. Dismally, they don’t read every word and most of them ignore 95% of the stuff you worked so callous to create.

You can try this test now with your own website or a client’s website…

Go to the site you want to try this. Spend just 5 seconds looking at it. Then, hop back to this page.

Then, answer this question: Did the website hook my attention? Was there anything that made me want to look out more?

If you find it hard to answer this question about your website, ask a crowd of people to do the same thing you just did to your site. You might be shocked to learn that your visitors aren’t looking at what you expect.

Here are the steps to make sure the websites you create cross the 5-second test:

1. Patch the header.

The header or headline should be the first thing a visitor sees and it should practically push them to look over more. Don’t think that your visitors will read all the text on the page. Studies show 80% of visitors read the headline, only 20% read the body. So, why the headline is so major?

So what makes a good header?

Good headers or headlines are unique. Make sure the headline you scribble or design could only be at the crown of the website you’re developing. If it could work on a competitor’s site, it’s not specific enough. Swim deep to find out how your client is different from others and use those specific details to create the magic.

Strong headlines use powerful words that grab attention and inspire action. Some examples are Shocking, Exquisite, Effective, Irresistible, Discover, Critical, or a Masterpiece, Charming… (Hint: Sneak peek your client’s customer testimonials.)

2. Ask the visitor to do something.

Most websites ask the visitor to do something, but they don’t give anything back . If you want visitors to add some flavour , well you need to reward them.

Ok just cook it up like this, your client wants to get the name and email address of everyone who visits his site so he can catch up with them. He should offer something – like a free report, a trial, or maybe a sample product – in trade for their name and email address.

This is a compelling offer. It just means the visitors are going to get a prize for giving something. It’s on a promise from both sides: If you give me your name and number, I’ll give you a widget or game or let it be a pack of pringles. To get more people taking you up on the offer, it should be something they can’t turn away from.

Without a great – and exciting– offers, visitors will come to your site, look around and leave. With an irresistible offer, you can turn visitors into loyal fans who return and buy.

Remember to be matchless and comment what the visitors will get out of the deal.

Remove any abstractions that get in the way of the message. Get rid of
long boring info, any links that would make them drift away from the main message or away from the site, and irrelevant images.

At this point, you might be pondering why your client would want the visitor’s information…

The answer is so they can follow up (by email or newsletter) with these visitors, build trust, build a bond, get more visitors, and increase in sale.

Beware

Now a days web designers let their ideas and design get in the way of the message. Beautiful sites are amazing, but design alone won’t make money. Work with your clients to make fascinating copy and effective offers and you’ll be unfaltering.