Who do you design your website for; yourself or your web traffic in the hopes of converting them into paying customers? Therefore your entire website should have your visitors as the sole focus. You design your website for the purpose of leading your site visitors to the point where they do particular things.

You want them to purchase your products or use your services or opt into your mailing lists or sign up for your news letters. This has to be done with finesse as visitors who get the feeling you are herding them become uncomfortable. Too often website owners forget that visitors come to their websites for reasons of their own.

The customer is king

Their expectations are to be able to accomplish the purpose for coming to that specific website. Your website should be organised to meet the needs your visitors have. It should not be organised according to the services and products you offer to make things easier for you. All too often websites focus solely on optimising for search engines. Optimising for visitors should take priority as the visitors are your potential customers, not the search engines.

Organise your website with groupings of products that service specific needs and make sure there are clear links to each product grouping with graphic displays as well.

Give visitors value

Take the time to organise your products into the proper groupings to make it easier for visitors to find. Go over your site content with a fine tooth comb. Your information articles on your website should provide visitors with knowledgeable information that is pertinent to them. Give them food for thought by anticipating their needs; both existing and future. Think about the frustrations you experience when you are shopping online yourself.

Take note of specific issues that irritate you. Then go back to your own website and see if any of those irritants show up there. Get out of your own mindset and start thinking like a customer.  Too often website owners tend to gloss over stumble blocks on their own websites. They look with rose tinted glasses at their own ‘babies’. Yet they recognise stumble blocks on websites they use for online shopping.

Customer interaction

Start interaction with your site visitors by creating a special feedback session; a mini-blog if you wish. Invite site visitors to leave comments about what frustrates them about website experiences in general. Ask them to tell you what aspects of your own website they feel can be improved. It is surprising what you can learn from this kind of feedback. Site visitors feel included and valued when ask for their opinions.

Update your website regularly, keep the content fresh and make sure the contents address the needs and wants of your site visitors. Fix any problems or inadequacies as soon as they become apparent. The viability of your business depends on customer satisfaction. Let your website show your visitors and customers that you put their needs above everything else.

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