Your
Website’s Mission and Purpose
SolveYourProblem.com Article Series: Web Site Design
There are a lot of different kinds of websites
– and there are a lot of people who know they want a website,
but aren't even sure why. If you don't already know, you need
to figure out exactly what it is that you want your website
to do. What kind of thing do you want to put on it? Who are
you trying to get to visit? Here's a quick guide to some of
the most popular website types.
The Business Card Website
For many people, having a website is something they feel the
need to do as a duty, not because they really want to do it.
In this case, it's perfectly justified to put up a website
with nothing more than your name, your business name (if any),
and your email address. You could also include your real-world
address and your phone number, if you're comfortable with that.
The key here is to at least put up something for someone who
happens to be looking for you with a search engine.
You have to understand,
though, that these kinds of sites can be as frustrating as
they are helpful. Friends and co-workers
may be excited to find your site, only to say "oh... is
that all it does?" Customers, especially, have a tendency
to get upset, especially if they just wanted to know something
about your products or pricing. Not having a complete website
makes work for them when they have to ask you about these things,
and for you when you have to answer.
The CV/Portfolio Website
An extension of the business card format is to make your website
brief, and directed at getting people to call you if they're
interested in you. It could just be a listing of the jobs you've
had, or it could be an archive of the articles you've written
for various publications – whatever, it's there to get you
work. These kinds of websites can be effective, although you
should realise that you're more likely to get some work because
of a site that people find useful than because of one that's
just about you.
The Brochure Website
They're often-mocked in web design, but they're not really
that bad: brochure-style websites simply reproduce the kind
of material you would send out in a brochure to an interested
customer, complete with pictures and technical details. Instead
of actually doing any business online, you give the customer
your contact information.
In many industries, really, this is the only way to work.
There are things you just can't do with shopping carts and
credit card processing, after all, especially when it comes
to services. These kinds of websites are especially prevalent
among businesses with a more local focus.
The E-Commerce Website
There are two situations where e-commerce works really well:
if you're selling a service that can be provided over the web,
or if you're selling a small product that you can handle shipping
for. In these situations, e-commerce websites are very powerful.
You can sell your product direct online, cutting out whatever
middlemen there might be.
The Content Website
Ever more popular, content websites work by providing useful
writing and then putting ads around it. That's the whole business
model in a nutshell, but it works surprisingly well. The more
writing you can do (or get), the better it works for you. If
you want, you can even leave off the ads and put up a small
button asking people to donate to your site if they found your
information helpful – people can be nicer than you'd expect.
The Community Website
Finally, an often-ignored
kind of website is one that exists to serve a community.
The community might be geographical (people
who live in the same town), or it could an interest or hobby
community (a forum for people who really like a certain genre
of TV show, for example). Community websites can be fun to
participate in, and they can make a lot of money if you can
find advertisers who are interested in the very specific audience
your site has got. If your site gets popular, you might even
be able to charge people for membership! Even if it stays free
and small, though, it's nice to have a web community to call
your own, and you're likely to benefit in all sorts of ways
that you wouldn't expect.
#
# # # #
SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
> Home > Website Design Articles: Main Page
|
