Types of Websites & the Focus Needed to be Successful with Each
E-Commerce
Clients/Customers
Identify the primary product & how it ought to be showcased
Too many different products types trying to share top-level positioning will often dilute your ability to resonate and gain traction for one type. Jack of all trades vs Master of one.
Whatever you do, don't forget the following:
• Isolated Photography -- how the individual products will be showcased. composition, lighting, etc.
• Comprehensive Art Direction -- still images, movement, color palette, typography & negative spaceAdd to cart, checkout & fulfillment experience
An excited buyer, ready to give you their money can sour quickly if this experience fails somewhere along the line of fulfillment. Technically yes the checkout experience does end when a buyer clicks 'submit payment'. We advise to think more long term & encourage embracing it's true end sometime after the user has engaged with the product or service they purchased. Which is different for every product. Buyer's remorse in an age of online reviews can be a beast you don't want to feed.
Examples:
• A bed, toothbrush, book, flight, rental car, electrician, custom home. ALL DIFFERENT.
Marketing / Small Business
Clients/Customers
Why You?
• The online elevator pitch. Quickly describe what you're best at & why it's worth the money you charge for it.
• Sometimes known as your brand story, great copy writing will be an asset here.Evidence
• It's one thing to claim why you, now use the rest of the site to prove it.
• This can come in many forms and probably should. Try not to rely on just one form of evidence.
• Examples: Online Reviews, Trustworthy Certifications, Better Business Bureau, Portfolio, Testimonials, etc. Anything in the Social Proof category.Now What... Ask for business call to action
What is the next most important thing you want your target audience to do? Work in that direction with your call-to-action. Sometimes folks aim too high. Don't ask for marriage before your first date. Make sense?
News Media / Content Publisher
Readers/Subscribers
Time spent/invested on your site
Nothing more important than making sure your content is welcoming, engaging to your audience:
• If your content is predominantly video, make sure it loads very quick & you have strong analytics behind the scenes telling you what's working and what doesn't.
• If your content is written, it ought to be well formatted for readability.How will you make money?
• Are you advertiser supported? Subscription? However you intend to make money, it better be showcased in a manner it's clear, convenient and within easy reach.
Portfolio
Followers & Synergistic Colleagues
All Evidence
Everything from the way the website opens (establishes the first 10 seconds) to the way it closes (declares you've seen it all), should exude evidence to the fact you execute on your knowledge.
• Popular guy Tony Robbins once said... Knowledge isn't power; it's potential power. Execution trumps knowledge any day of the week.
If/Then/Else
The goal of the artist, determines [if] a second tier strategy for more business [then] is developed [else] the artist is satisfied making their art for themselves vs. the shopper.
Second tier strategies might be:
• offering one's skills for commissioned work, work directed by the buyer
• selling prints of a masterpiece at various sizes as posters or framed as an average joe wall-hanger
• making available for a limited audience a meet and greet with the artist for a unique selling environment for the art & teasing what might be 'coming soon' from the artist for interested buyers/fans of the past work.
Educational, Coaching, Consulting
Students & Clientele
This category has quite a bit of variety and is perhaps the most challenging as a result. What might clearly work for an online fitness coach, might be clearly insufficient to work for someone learning to program video games. Likewise, what will work for someone doing their taxes online won't for those needing help managing PTSD or other psychological or emotional therapy and counseling.
Engagement, Engagement, Engagement
What's true across the board is Engagement. Keeping the attention of your audience is paramount and therefore, since the type of activity will vary by audience, a tailored means is absolutely necessary.
Pace/Progress for the user to feel their accomplishments along the way
Updated: 12 Jan 2024
Author
Kyle Hart
Creative Director, Website Strategist at PIXSYM, LLC. with over 20 years of experience. My passion is creating solutions to complex problems through web design.