If I were a game show host at this point I would have you go register your guesses. Some of you are thinking… persuasive content, SEO, having an amazing product, flashy graphics, a big spinning logo…
I contend web success is far more straightforward.
The distilled concept would be “thoughtful strategy”
Let’s unpack that basic and obvious set of words with two stories of this done poorly and two stories of thoughtful strategy done right.
[Done Poorly] Antonio’s Pizzeria – Where’s the Phone #?
Antonio has a pizza shop and his homepage is filled with beautiful pictures of his delicious deep dish pizza. However, the reason people come to his site 75% of the time is to literally just get his phone number to call and order. The phone number is buried at the bottom of the site in small text and isn’t clickable on a phone. Major strategic fail.
[Done Poorly] Consulting Firm – No Evidence of Credibility
Bruce runs a small boutique consulting firm that specializes in B2B. He has a lot of fluff on his site that describes what he does but nothing that shows the real world impact he’s had. No testimonials from his happy clients. No Case Studies. He is part of 4 professional organizations but neglected to list any of their logos. Big missed opportunity.
[Done Right] Talent Agency – Getting Email Signups
Imagine a talent management agency for actors. This one has a weekly tips email they send out which is filled with tricks to land the next big gig. Knowing that this is a natural and non-threatening Call-To-Action they made this button one of the most obvious items on the page. Once they had an actor’s email they could continue to be in front of them even after they left the site. Big strategic win.
[Done Right] Media Outlet – More Pageviews
Patrick runs a blog that depends on ad revenue from people reading his team’s content. He set out with the goal to increase pageviews and approached it from all sides. He figured out how to make the site load more quickly. He added a related article feature at the bottom of the posts to give someone another article they may want to read. He cut away a bunch of useless distracting page elements to let the more important elements shine. The ad revenue goes way up.
Be Thoughtfully Strategic
Set out the end goals, assemble a thoughtful strategy to accomplish them. Don’t be distracted by shiny objects. Do cut away what isn’t helping you achieve your goals. And make thoughtful strategy sit at the core of your efforts on the web.