Do you have a goal for your website in mind?   Yes, we know you want to attract lot's of customers and yes, we know, you want to make a lot of money.  But how?   How do you attract those customers and get them to buy? 

It has become increasingly clear that the ones who are success with great website designs (both graphically and in regards to content) have a unique value proposition and have a specific target audience in mind.   By being unique, fresh and clear on their message they quickly rise to the top of that ever valuable Google search.

So what is your goal?

Some years ago I came across an interesting story... although I cannot recollect where.  If I could I should cite the author here as it is not my original story.

There once was a very crappy website for a reasonably succesfull business.   Information on their website was hard to find and you certainly couldn't buy anything online.   A great webdesign team came along to assist this business in building a better website.   They made the content and navigation clear, information was easy to find and the design simple.   This should have been a massive advance for the customer.

What they found, after release, was sales actually dropped.  The phones stopped ringing.   The new website had a negative impact on the success of the business?  But how could this be?

On much further analysis, taking into account the previous website, and how this business actually sold its products... one thing became very clear.   The business owner was a very charasmatic character who really excelled at exceptional customer service and the chance of someone buying his product was very good if they ever spoke to him.

What the website has done, was made the information easy to find.   The old website was confusing, so the confused customers picked up the phone to talk to the business owner.  Once he had them talking, they were hooked.   Once the website was updated and the information easy to find, customers were no longer confused and no longer had a need to call the business owner...  and they simply drifted off to another supplier as his interaction was key to his unique selling proposition.

What can we learn from this?  You need to be very clear on why your business has been or is going to be successful.   What do you need to achieve to sign up that customer?  Pehaps you don't need an online ecommerce site.   Perhaps you need only something that entices the customer to pick up the phone?   Maybe it is getting the customer signed up to a newsletter so they may hear your opinion repeatedly to build that trust over time?

Every one of our customers has a unique goal for their website.   That goal must be continually kept front of mind to ensure the final website is not only functional and aesthetically pleasing... but it is also taking your business in the direction it needs.