Be Honest about Your Web Site

The first step in addressing a problem is admitting you have a problem. This goes for web sites, too. Web sites are like fingerprints (or they should be). They should be be unique to the business. So, there is a lot of subjectivity involved in the design and content. However, that doesn’t mean its a free-for-all where everything works. There are some best practices that should be observed if you want to be successful. Here are three you should consider when evaluating your web site.

1) Is the design professional? There is a technical hierarchy for presentation that makes designs more successful. There are also principles for graphics and content that makes them more effective. The most effective web sites are designed by professionals to maximize the impact of a visit. If your web site looks like a bulletin board with multiple small elements tacked on for various reasons, if you have poorly coordinated colors, lack clear calls to action and your design does not have a logical flow that you can clearly see, then your design is probably hurting you. If you want an evaluation on this, please let me know, I’m happy to look at your site and give you an evaluation.

2) Programming counts. There are several languages in which you can program a web site. Usually when you order a web site, this does not make any difference to you but it can make a huge difference if the web programmer doesn’t understand your bigger goals. When we design and program a web site, we do so using coding languages that will facilitate Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is logical for us because we know the market and know that our clients want their web sites to be found on the Internet through search engines. I am always amazed to find doctors who have had sites built without that basic intention in mind. The fact is, when you use the person on the corner with the great low price to design your site, he or she may only do what they know. More times than not, they know how to make a site one certain way and don’t really know much about marketing the site after its done. This results in a site that actually makes it difficult to optimize written in a coding language that suits the designer’s needs not the clients. Think I’m kidding? I see about one of these per month. This falls under the category of you get what you pay for. You probably know if you are cutting corners... this is how it can affect your site without you even knowing it, so beware.

3) Be Up-to-Date. Web Sites just like everything else have a shelf-life. Even very well designed sites need an update in both presentation and functionality to keep up with the market. For instance, you may have a great looking site that was designed a few years ago. But, user stats have been dropping as more and more people are using mobile devices to visit the site. In these cases, which is just about everybody, it is vital to add smartphone and iPad versions of your web site to be up to date. Why? You have to go where the market goes and do the things the market demands. If you are like most doctors nearly 25% of your web visitors are coming via mobile devices. This time next year, that could be as high as 40%. We have some clients who have already eclipsed 40% mobile traffic. Soon, it will be more important to have better mobile content than standard web site content. At or near this point, it will be important to have a web site that is flexible and addresses all users no matter how they come to you. The leading edge marketers will be taking advantage of that while soon which will create a huge gap between them and the everyone else. Do you know the percentage of visitors you get on mobile devices? Do you have a plan to ride that mobile wave rather than be washed under by it? If you need advice on evaluating this, why not call me?

We are starting a campaign to retool web strategies for this upcoming wave. Dog Star Media‘s Mission Control web site package is a turnkey solution to allow you to be ready for this next wave, no matter where it takes you. If you want more information on our Mission Control web site package, please contact me at donald@dogstarmedia.com.